ABSTRACT
Graceland has the distinction of being the second most visited private home in the United States, after the White House, which is not only a private home. Some 600,000 to 700,000 people a year make a 'pilgrimage' to Graceland, which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006. The description of Graceland as 'hallowed ground', posted on the internet by the Memphis tourist organization, gives us a great deal to think about. Elvis Presley was known as 'the King of Rock n' Roll' so the allusions to him as a 'king' is not that far-fetched. The composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein described Presley as 'the greatest cultural force in the Twentieth Century'. He sold 500 million records and made 33 films in his career. Greil Marcus, an important scholar of music and popular culture wrote about Presley as follows: Elvis Presley is a supreme figure in American life, one whose presence, no matter how banal or predictable, brooks no comparisons.
