Over 500 Elvis fans gathered early this morning on the front lawn of Graceland for a special award presentation, celebrating the continuing and growing success of Elvis’s career. With more than 300,000 DVDs sold, two special, deluxe edition Elvis Presley DVDs, “Elvis: ’68 Comeback Special – Deluxe Edition DVD” and “Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii- Deluxe Edition DVD” have been certified double Platinum and Platinum, respectively, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Released by BMG Strategic Marketing Group and Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. to help commemorate the 50th Anniversary of rock 'n' roll, the DVDs have also reached Gold and Platinum status internationally. “Elvis: ’68 Comeback Special – Deluxe Edition DVD” was certified Platinum in Australia and Britain, and triple Platinum in Canada while the “Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii – Deluxe Edition DVD” was certified Gold in Britain, Platinum in Australia and double Platinum in Canada.
BMG Strategic Marketing Group, working in conjunction with Elvis Presley Enterprises, released the special DVDs to commemorate the 50th anniversary of rock 'n' roll, which was officially celebrated around the world on July 5th, with most of the activities emanating from Elvis Presley’s hometown, Memphis, TN. The anniversary commemorates Presley’s recording of “That’s All Right” which historians point to as the “big bang” of rock 'n' roll that ushered in a cultural revolution. BMG also released the original “That’s All Right” with an alternate version of the track as well as its original B-side “Blue Moon of Kentucky” that became the #1 selling single, 50 years after its initial release!
“The Deluxe Edition Presley DVDs have helped us continue to build a renewed interest in all things Elvis, and provide a wonderful visual component to the anniversary. They really show what a tremendous music talent and performer Elvis was and why people loved and continue to love him,” said Joe DiMuro, Executive Vice President, BMG Strategic Marketing Group.
"Elvis Presley's incomparable magic shines brighter than ever in this comprehensive presentation of two of the greatest performance events of his career," said Todd Morgan of EPE, one of the producers of the '68 and Aloha DVDs. "EPE, BMG and all who worked with us on the DVD sets felt a deep sense of privilege and historical responsibility in preparing this stunning material for release. We are proud of our work, but all the bows truly belong only to Elvis and to his original collaborators. We are all thrilled that fans, critics and new audiences have responded with what amounts to a global standing ovation."
The success of the ‘Elvis: 68 Comeback Special – Deluxe Edition DVD” and “Elvis, Aloha From Hawaii- Deluxe Edition DVD” is yet another milestone in Elvis’s record-setting music career. He is the only artist to be inducted into all three music Halls of Fame, including Rock 'N' Roll, Country and Gospel. He holds the record for most top 10 pop singles, the most gold and platinum awards and is the world’s best selling artist, eclipsing any other musician or group in history. His popularity remains intact to this day as there are more active Elvis Presley fan clubs around the world than for any other artist – dead or alive.
Gold And Platinum Sales Awards For Comeback And Aloha DVDs
August 16, 2004 | Video
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E.J.F... wrote on
August 16, 2004
Goes to show what can be achieved with that little extra effort. I pity those fans who sadly passed away before they could see all that wealth of material made available more than 30 YEARS after they were filmed. So how about a truly Special Edition of "TTWII" and "On Tour". I'm sure there's at least 3/4-Discs worth of material for each title there, just waiting to be "devoured" by us! But we want them NOW!! Come on EPE/BMG...GET CRACKING!
Antjie wrote on
August 20, 2004
Please don't let us wait for another 27 years for Deluxe DVD Editions of TTWII and On Tour. And yes, each concert as a whole. That's what we want and what we should have. Especially those of us who were never there to experience it.
Marco Aurelio wrote on
August 17, 2004
Congratulations Elvis! The DVD´s are having good sales, but remember, if there was an extra effort like EJF wrote, it would be much more exciting for us fans, but sure it was a great job. Now we are waiting for a real special edition of "That´s The Way It Is" and "Elvis On Tour". As W.C wrote, we could have complete concerts plus rehearsal material in these future DVD sets.
Aron wrote on
August 17, 2004
I agree, "what joy shall fill my heart" if we could get the complete material on DVD of TTWII and On Tour.
MV wrote on
August 17, 2004
I agree. We should have the lot from Thats the Way it is and On tour. 27 years is a very long time. NOW is the time. If Warner cant do it, hand it over to EPE. It Hurts Me aside, they'll no what to do with the films.