NME ELVIS SPECIAL EDITION US VERSION

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ELVIS Everything you need to know about Elvis (the movie) With a cinematic great directing, a breakout star and a soundtrack to die for, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is not your grandparents’ Elvis – it’s the real life, totally modern story of the guy who invented teenage rebellion. Here are some reasons to watch A SUPERSTAR IS BORN... …And he’s on the cover of this very magazine. Austin Butler, who plays Elvis Aaron Presley himself – at each stage of life – has been acting since his teens, but this is his biggest role yet. Not only does Butler look like he was born to play Elvis – thanks to a strong jawline, intense eyes and a killer pout – he sounds like it too. Many of Elvis’s best-loved tracks have been specially re-recorded for the movie. Get lost in Austin in our big interview, beginning on p14. IT’S GOT TOM HANKS LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE Hollywood’s Mr Nice plays carnie-turned-talent manager Colonel Tom Parker, the man who discovered Elvis, made him famous and duly exploited him in every possible way. A complicated character, Parker was a Dutchman, born Andreas van Kuijk, who travelled illegally to the US at 20, reinvented himself as a southern gent and lived as an “illegal alien”, possibly explaining his curious reluctance to let Elvis perform overseas. While he was certainly instrumental in helping Elvis achieve success, the relationship – viewed through a 2022 lens – was toxic and coercive. It’s a rare baddie for Hanks. BAZ IS BACK Baz Luhrmann is the cinematic auteur who made Romeo & Juliet sexy, Moulin Rouge! modern and The Great Gatsby blingy. Just his sixth movie (he goes big or goes home), Elvis fits perfectly alongside those ambitious epics. There’s a reason nobody’s attempted to tell the life story of the most popular performer of all time, and it’s because only a cinematic giant would dare. IT FEATURES NEW TUNES FROM DOJA CAT, KACEY MUSGRAVES AND MORE Alongside Austin Butler’s versions of Elvis hits, performed in-character, the soundtrack boasts Elvisinspired recordings from some of today’s hottest names, including the reigning queen of Nashville, Kacey Musgraves, and fearless pop-rapper Doja Cat. What else would you expect from the director who brought us Moulin Rouge!’s all-star R&B banger ‘Lady Marmalade’ (Christina Aguilera! Mýa! Lil’ Kim! P!nk!) THE AMBITION IS AUDACIOUS Born into poverty in Mississippi, Elvis Presley was a rocker, a Vegas showman, a movie star, a GI in the US Army, a husband, a father, a big kid, an embodiment of the American Dream, a fallen icon, a caricature, a comeback king… and much more. Rather than take the easy route and focus in on one part of Elvis’ remarkable life, Luhrmann set himself the challenge of telling the full story – from blowing away audiences as a fearless youngster to meeting his future wife Priscilla (played here to perfection by Olivia DeJonge). To top it off, he’s managed to cram in an entire festival line-up’s worth of legends, including Little Richard, BB King, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and more. THE FASHION WILL INSPIRE YOUR NEW WARDROBE If Alex Turner’s mid-career glow-up made you swoon, then Luhrmann’s take on Elvis will show you where he got some of his ideas from. Think slick quiffs, rock’n’roll stylings and the way his clothes hung on those hips. If Elvis doesn’t inspire a catwalk trend, we’ll eat our Blue Suede Shoes. NME.COM
FROM THE ARCHIVE ELVIS IN EUROPE In 1960, NME writer Derek Johnson jetted over to Germany for a chat with Sergeant Presley PHOTOS: WARNER BROS PICTURES; GETTY; MOVIESTORE COLLECTION; ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ELVIS PRESLEY treated me to one o f h i s smouldering, heavy-lidded glances, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint smile. “I don’t know if I shall manage to get to the top again,” he said. “I only wish I did know. I hear that trends have changed, so it might be pretty difficult for me. But I’ll tell you this – I’m gonna try hard.” I was talking to Elvis in the Ray Barracks, Friedburg, some 30 miles north of Frankfurt, just before the singing phenomenon flew back to America this week for his discharge from the Army. This was the first time Elvis had been able to speak freely since his arrival in Europe – and I was there on behalf of the NME. When I asked him about the future, he was extremely cautious – and a little apprehensive. “I’m completely away from showbusiness,” he told me. “I only have newspaper clippings to keep me up to date with what’s going on. That’s where the NME comes in very useful – I get it regularly… read every week.” FRESH OPPOSITION It occurred to me that Elvis might be particularly concerned about the new crop of singers, who sprung up into the limelight in his absence. So I asked what he thought of his new rivals, like Fabian and Frankie Avalon. “Well to start with, I don’t consider them as rivals,” he explained. “I’ve always believed that there’s room for everyone in show business – and if other people can make it, then good luck to them. I’ve been down the same road they’re walking on now, and I don’t begrudge them their success one bit.” Presley’s immediate plans on discharge are to go home and take a short rest, before starting work with Frank Sinatra on the television spectacular he is doing at the beginning of May – and the fi lm ‘GI Blues’, which he is scheduled to make. He has no definite recording plans, although he assumes that making new discs will be one of the first items on his schedule. “I haven’t had a new record out for ten months, and that’s taking a big risk,” he said. BACK TO REALITY Will it be diffi cult for Elvis to settle down in civvy street? “Well, I guess it won’t be too difficult to adjust myself from 108 dollars per month to about a million per year,” he grinned. “But I suppose it won’t be too easy readjusting to the entire life.” I was most anxious to know if Elvis intended to go back onto the rigid rock’n’roll path. Didn’t he perhaps consider that he was getting too old for a rocker? “Well, I don’t know – that’s the first time I’ve ever been asked that question. But I don’t think so – I’m not an old man yet!” What about Elvis’ movements, which have come in for a great deal of criticism in the past? “I know they shocked a lot of people, but they were all spontaneous, I just couldn’t help the way I presented my songs – I guess it was just a part of me.” And those celebrated sideburns? “I’ll let them grown again a little, but they won’t be as long as they were. I reckon I got over that kick!” Elvis confirmed to me that he is definitely contemplating visiting Britain next year, as part of a lengthy tour of Europe. “It’ll be completely new territory for me, and I’m really looking forward to it,” he declared. By now, Elvis Presley is back in America. And he’s taken with him the best wishes of all NME readers, which I delivered on your behalf. What’s more, I can assure you that he was genuinely pleased to receive them. GETTING PERSONAL WITH PRESLEY • Has he lost any weight since he’s been in the Army? “Yes, about ten pounds. I tip the scales at about 170 now.” • Any thoughts on getting married? “I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll wait until the bug bites – and it hasn’t bitten yet.” • Has he sung at all while he’s been in Germany? “Only for the guys in my platoon.” • Is he taking any souvenirs back to America? “Two German guitars and a camera.” NME.COM
Page 1: LVIS FILM SPECIAL EDITION
Page 6 and 7: FROM THE ARCHIVE Elvis meets The Be
Page 8 and 9: Not into the hip-swinging thing or
Page 10 and 11: ACT SISTER Yola is the Grammy-nomin
Page 12 and 13: MEMPHIS Fancy visiting the place th
Page 14 and 15: AUSTIN BUTLER Austin Butler is a Ho
Page 16 and 17: AUSTIN BUTLER THE FIRST TIME AUSTIN
Page 18: AUSTIN BUTLER “It was all about
Page 21 and 22: Could you write a song about Elvis?
Page 23 and 24: “He’s a larger than life celebr
Page 25 and 26: LEFT PAGE: SUIT: HELEN ANTHONY, SHI
Page 27 and 28: THE HOLLYWOOD HEARTTHROB 1957 “In
Page 29 and 30: THE EVENTS ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS Every

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