Last night in Graceland, a collection of Elvis Presley‘s fans and family bid on items from the King’s vaults.
The most interesting item sold at the auction, held to honour what would have been Elvis’s 80th birthday, was an original acetate of his first song he recorded (though not his full debut single – that was the later ‘Heartbreak Hotel’), a version of the pop standard ‘My Happiness’.
Elvis recorded the ballad at legendary Memphis studio Sun Records in 1953 aged just 18, claiming that he intended the record as a gift for his mother, though it was later speculated that his true intentions were to be discovered as a singer by recording in Sun. It sold for $300,000.
It wasn’t, however, the most pricey: Elvis’s pair of private jets will also be sold, and according to The Guardian, are expected to fetch between $10m and $15m. Other items hawked at the auction include a custom-designed watch and the jacket he wore in the Viva Las Vegas film.