Graceland opened for tours, some five years after Elvis Presley's death in 1977. The King had left the Memphis mansion to his only child, nine-year-old Lisa Marie, but with the estate costing $500,000 a year to run it looked like the family might have to sell up.
The executor, her mother and Elvis' ex-wife Priscilla Presley, made the radical decision of opening up the house as a tourist attraction to keep it for their daughter.
This gamble paid off and Graceland has proven not only to be very profitable but also a great way of preserving Elvis' legacy.
In a new video on the 40th anniversary, Priscilla remembered how terrifying the opening day on June 7, 1982 was for her. It was like sending an invitation to the world for $5 a pop with no RSVP.
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