ELVIS' Hall Of Gold

The hall of gold is an 80-foot long room in Elvis' trophy building lined with his gold and platinum albums and singles, representing the sale of over one billion records worldwide, more than any other entertainer in the history of recorded voice. From his 23-years recording career, Elvis had 149 songs listed on Billboard's Hot pop singles chart. Of those, 114 made it into the top forty; 40 hit the top ten; and 18 made it all the way to number one. These are just the pop chart achievements. Elvis practically had separate careers in country, R&B and gospel!

This display case shows some of the trophies Elvis received during his career. The six matching figurines are awards from Cashbox Magazine for some of his top records; the tall trophy with the map of Africa commemorates ten "million sellers" in South Africa from 1956 to 1960; the one that resembles the American Oscar is the "Everybody's Award" from an Australian magazine. Others include a trophy representing a big hit with "It's Now or Never" in Japan; a European award declaring Elvis "favourite world singer"; and a Las Vegas "Entertainer of the Year" award. Elvis was nominated for fourteen Grammy awards by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS). He won three- the Grammy awards displayed here fot "How Great Thou Art" (1967); for the gospel album "He Touched Me" (1977); and for a live concert performance of "How Great Thou Art" (1974). Included in the Grammy showcase is an ebony-and-gold plaque the Academy presented to Elvis. At that time, the award was known as the Bing Crosby Award, named for its first recipient. Now, it is known as the NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award. Other honorees include Frank Sinatra, Irving Berlin, Chuck Berry, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Leonard Bernstein, and Paul McCartney. Elvis was 36 years old when he received this prestigious honor.

This diamond-shaped plaque was presented to Elvis by RCA Records, along with numerous other awards, on February 25, 1961 at a luncheon in his honor in Memphis. It commemorates his first 75 million records sold.

Off stage in Las Vegas, Elvis receives his Lifetime Achievement Award from NARAS officials and family of Bing Crosby.

In March 1960, Elvis took delivery of his console television and stereo on the front porch of Graceland. It was an award from RCA recognizing the sales of 50 million records in just over four years of recording with RCA Records. It is among the awards displayed in Elvis' trophy building.

On March 25, 1961 at Bloch Arena in Hawaii, Elvis performed a benefit concert raising over $65,000 toward the building of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, a World War II monument that had not been completed due to years of stalled fund-raising efforts. Elvis' concert provided the largest single donation to the project and, more importantly, stirred a level of public and media attention that made the completion of the monument possible within a year after his concert. It was a source of quiet personal satisfaction and pride for him and Elvis visited the monument several times over the years. The U.S. Navy placed a wreath there in his honor upon hearing the news of his death in 1977. For some reason, his contribution to this deeply meaningful monument is not widely known today.

After a pair of benefit shows for Memphis-area charities in 1961, Elvis made it an annual tradition to distribute checks to fifty or more of these organizations. In the early sixties, the City of Memphis presented him with this massive plaque as a token of appreciation. His reputation for generosity is fairly well-know. All have heard stories about the cars and jewelry Elvis gave away and the benefit concerts he performed, but very little gets mentioned about the families he supported, the cash he gave away to friends as well as strangers, the homes he bought, the hospital bills he paid-so much of it done privately, quietly, with no public recognition. Perhaps once his dreams of material wealth had come true, it was a special joy to see dreams come true, or hardships disappear, for others. He never forgot what it was like to do without.

Elvis purchased former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's yacht "Potomac" for $55,000 in January 1964. Pictured here on February 13, Elvis presents the yacht to actor Danny Thomas as a gift to St. Jude Children's Reseach Hospital in Memphis for them to use for fund-raising purposes. The ceremony took place in Long Beach, California.