Today(Jan.8) fans are marking what would be the 76th birthday of the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley with a celebration at his Graceland estate -- and one of Elvis' biggest fans is taking part.
Rescued Chilean miner Edison Pena is in Memphis for today's celebration and will be taken on a private tour of Presley's birthplace and his boyhood home in east Tupelo, Mississippi tomorrow.
During the 69 days that he and 31 other miners were trapped underground in Chile, Pena lifted the crew's spirits by belting out Elvis classics. While touring Graceland on Friday, Pena shot video on his cell phone and occasionally broke out into song, singing Elvis favorites like "Hound Dog." Although he knows little English, he treated the press to a rendition of "Blue Suede Shoes."
Pena's five-day visit to Memphis includes stops at a practice session of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and a stay at the Peabody Hotel, which lies in the heart of "blues city."
Elvis fanatics attending the celebration of the King will be served birthday cake and punch today at the Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum, according to The Associated Press.
"We expect it to be a low-key day. It'll give us an opportunity to visit with folks," Dick Guyton, executive director of the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation, told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
In addition to leading his fellow trapped miners in sing-alongs to Elvis' hits, Pena kept fit and active by jogging to Presley's music. He made headlines last November when he participated in the New York marathon.
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