Dionne Warwick has described meeting Elvis Presley as ‘overwhelming’, and revealed how he helped her sell a record number of albums in Las Vegas.
The 83-year-old soul icon has recalled meeting the King of Rock at a hotel event in 1969 and being stunned by his good looks.
Warwick said Presley promised to slip a signed photograph of himself in all of her albums sold in Sin City – prompting her sales to rocket.
Presley pledged to announce the sales move at his show that same evening.
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Dionne Warwick has described meeting Elvis Presley as ‘overwhelming’, and revealed how he helped her sell a record number of albums in Las Vegas. (Pictured: Presley during a press conference at the International Hotel in Vegas on August 1, 1969)
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Warwick, pictured in her youth, has recalled meeting the King of Rock at a hotel event in 1969 and being stunned by his good looks
Warwick’s comments about Presley came during an interview with Fox News Digital
‘First of all, looking at that man was overwhelming. I’ve never seen a man that pretty in my life,’ Warwick said of the encounter on Fox News.
‘After meeting him, he was so wonderful and so kind to me,’ she added.
‘He said, “I am going to put a signed photograph of me in every album and every record store in Vegas”. I said, “you’re going to do what?!”
‘I sold so many albums in Las Vegas than I ever thought I could sell anywhere. It was one of those a-ha moments. It was wonderful.’
The I Say A Little Prayer songstress enjoyed a friendship with Presley, who died at the age of 42 in 1977.
Warwick has sold 100 million records worldwide and won six Grammys. The disc Presley signed is likely to have been Soulful, her twelfth album, released April 1969 on Scepter Records.
Before her solo career took off, she was also part of the Drinkard Singers, a gospel choir who performed throughout the New York City area and went on to be backing singers in some of Presley’s songs.
Now an octogenarian, Warwick is still a hit on the entertainment scene. She recently featured on The Masked Singer as it returned to TV screens on Saturday night.
Dressed as ‘Weather’ in a long glittery blue and white dress topped with a raincloud obscuring her face, Warwick was ‘unmasked’ as the mystery singer on the show’s December 30 episode.
Her identity was rumbled within seconds of her stepping on to the stage as both the judges and fans at home recognized her distinctive voice.
Warwick was also among the star-studded 46th Kennedy Center Honors event in Washington D.C earlier in December.
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As The Masked Singer returned to TV screens on Saturday night Dionne Warwick, 83, became the first character to be unmasked
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The legendary singer’s identity was rumbled within seconds of her stepping on to the stage as both the judges and fans at home recognised her distinctive voice
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The I Say A Little Prayer songstress stunned wearing a long, black dress with shimmering, silver embellishments towards the top
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She layered the ensemble with a blazer that also contained matching, silver details near the cuffs of the outer piece
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Presley was known for tearing up Vegas on his tours during the sixties and making the city the tourist entertainment haven it is today.
A film about his life and turbulent marriage to Priscilla Presley, was released in October.
Based on Priscilla’s memoirs, the movie stars Euphoria heartthrob Jacob Elordi as The King and Mare Of Easttown actress Cailee Spaeny as his wife in the movie, called Priscilla.
Elvis met Priscilla at a party in Germany while he was stationed there by the U.S. Army – he was 24 years old and she was only 14.
Their marriage was rocked by infidelities and further scarred by his drug problem, before ultimately falling apart in 1972 a half-decade before his death.
In real life, while they were dating, he carried on a concurrent affair with his Viva Las Vegas co-star Ann-Margret – and when Priscilla found out abut it, she ‘picked up a flower vase and threw it across a room,’ per her memoirs.
Priscilla has maintained that she and Elvis did not have sex until they were married in Las Vegas in 1967, three weeks before her 22nd birthday.
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Presley was known for tearing up Vegas on his tours during the sixties and making the city the tourist entertainment haven it is today
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Rock and roll singer Elvis Presley poses for a portrait sitting in an MGM director’s chair in circa 1960 in Los Angeles, California
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Presley performing on the Elvis comeback TV special on June 27, 1968 in Burbank, CA
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Warwick performing on Ready Steady Go at Television House, Kingsway, London on May 22 1964
Nine months after the wedding, she gave birth to their daughter Lisa Marie Presley, who famously went on to marry and divorce Michael Jackson.
Elvis and Priscilla’s marriage was a troubled one – she once told Hello! that ‘I never wanted to leave town or even visit my parents as I didn’t want to give him that chance, thinking that someone would come and take my place.’
Priscilla, who herself had an affair with a karate teacher during the marriage, eventually separated from Elvis in 1972 and finalized the divorce in 1973.
After years of notorious drug abuse, Elvis was found passed out on a bathroom floor in Memphis and declared dead of cardiac arrest in 1977.
Priscilla became a successful businesswoman as custodian of her ex-husband’s legacy, opening up his lavish estate Graceland for fans to visit.
The trailer for Sofia Coppola’s new movie opens on Priscilla as a young girl, when she first caught the eye of the already world-famous rock star.
