ON THIS DAY 47 YEARS AGO – During a July 20, 1975 concert, between songs Elvis was joking around and giving out scarves when he noticed a little girl standing on the far left of the stage. He walked over and knelt down on one knee in front of her. Realizing she was blind, Elvis held her hands and spoke to her for a few minutes. The audience could not hear as he kept the microphone away from his mouth. He then kissed his scarf and touched both her eyes with it. When he was finished he took the scarf and held it to the child’s face. The little girl stood there with complete confidence in what Elvis was doing. The girl had been blind since birth.
Elvis talked to the girl’s mother after the concert and paid for the surgery to restore her sight. Today she is a computer graphic artist.
A series of archive photos showing Elvis Presley hugging a female fan at a concert have been falsely attributed to an unsubstantiated story about a blind girl, a $50,000 cheque and some free tickets.
The photos were captured on July 20, 1975, during an afternoon concert at the Scope arena in Norfolk, Virginia, and show a girl interacting with “The King” himself. Standing on stage, the girl appears to be hugged by Presley, before being presented with a scarf.
A post uploaded to Facebook nearly 46 years later, now shared tens of thousands of times, includes the photos alongside quotes of an apparent interaction that happened between the pair.
“During an Elvis concert in 1975, he was told that a blind girl was in the audience who absolutely loved him,” the post reads. “Elvis told his entourage to bring the little lady on stage, immediately. The little lady got on stage. Elvis knelt before her.”
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According to the Facebook post, what followed was an alleged conversation between Elvis and the girl, which is quoted in full. It claims Elvis said that despite his success, the value of his presence to the “little one” is the “greatest feeling” in his life.
He is also claimed to have asked the girl for her autograph “so I can cherish the moment I met the most beautiful girl that ever lived.”
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While the photos themselves are authentic , some of which were captured by photographer Len Leech , the story is not.
Reuters presented the post to Graceland, the star’s mansion overseen by Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE), which said it had no knowledge of such a thing ever happening. There was also no evidence of this exchange found during an independent Reuters search.
An article published the day after the concert in The Virginian-Pilot, a local newspaper, recalled how Elvis had interacted with multiple fans at his matinee, with specific mention of a small girl. It reads: “‘Bring the child down here,’ he said in supremely Biblical tones, as one woman held up her small daughter. He hugged the girl, as his band went ‘Ahhhhhh’ in mocking tones. He later reprimanded them, good naturedly” (.
It is not known whether this reference is to the girl seen in the pictures; however, this is the closest (and only) mention found – and there is nothing at all of her being blind, the quotes in the post, nor of a cheque.
Similarly, Reuters was only able to find one written account of Elvis meeting a blind fan. This was by Judy Wilkinson for the California Council of the Blind, who said she met Presley before a 1957 concert in San Francisco. She claims he promised to sing her favourite of his songs: I Want you I need you I love you
Moreover, the story in the Facebook post has been circulating the internet for several years and appears to have changed over time.
An account posted to the I Heart Elvis website in 2012 – not including a source – claimed Elvis moved his microphone away from his mouth during the on-stage interaction so no one could hear. He is then claimed to have “kissed his scarf and touched both her eyes with it” . Meanwhile, a more recent version claims Presley “paid the girl for an operation to restore her vision”
False. There is no evidence that Elvis Presley gave a $50,000 cheque to a young fan after meeting her on stage in 1975 – nor that he gave her free tickets, travel and accommodation. Graceland says it also has no knowledge of such an event happening.
