Many of Elvis Presley’s songs cause people to feel deep emotion. For example, Elvis and Priscilla Presley cried when the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll performed one of his songs live at a party. Here’s how modern country singer Carrie Underwood factors into the equation.
Elvis and Priscilla Presley were moved by this famous Christmas song
Elvis is more associated with Christmas music than most rock stars. After all, his version of “Blue Christmas” is a radio staple during the holiday season. In addition, his performance of one Christmas song moved him and his future bride.
In her book, Elvis and Me, Priscilla described spending Christmas with Elvis when he was stationed in the army in Germany during 1959. The “Can’t Help Falling in Love” singer decided to perform for everyone during the festivities. “Motioning for me to sit next to him at the piano, he started playing ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ with such emotion that I couldn’t look up for fear he’d see I was crying,” Priscilla recalled. “When at last I couldn’t resist meeting his eyes, I saw that he too was holding back tears.” Elvis was scheduled to leave Germany for the United States not long after — and there was no guarantee Priscilla would see him again.
How the world reacted to ‘Elvis’ Christmas Album’
This anecdote raises an interesting question about how Elvis’ version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” performed on the charts. He included his solo version of the song on Elvis’ Christmas Album, also known as It’s Christmas Time. According to Billboard, the album became the best-selling Christmas album of all time in the United States, selling over 10 million copies. On the other hand, the second best-selling Christmas album in the United States is Kenny G’s Miracles: The Holiday Album, which sold over 7 million copies.
How the world reacted to Elvis Presley’s cover of ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’
In 2008, the Elvis estate released Christmas Duets. Christmas Duets features tracks that combine newly-recorded vocals from contemporary singers with Elvis’ vocals to create a series of posthumous duets between the “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” singer and other artists. For example, the album includes a version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” featuring vocals from Carrie Underwood.
This version of the track reached No. 54 on Billboard’s Hot Country charts. Christmas Duets reached No. 17 on the Billboard 200 in 2008. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” caused Elvis and Priscilla to cry — and the song seemed to resonate with audiences decades after its original release.
