Love Hollywood stories? Subscribe now so you don’t miss any new videos. It’s free and it really supports the channel. So, as a little girl, what did Whitney Houston really think about Elvis Presley? >> I just remember at one point being in a room and we were all in this room, my mother and the singers and we did you know you know the you know the backstage kind of thing and he just walked in the room with his mink on with his glasses on.
> >> And he just walks in, he says something and everybody just >> >> you don’t say anything, you just look. It was just one of those moments I won’t forget as a kid. It wasn’t like “Hi, Mr. Elvis, nice to meet you.” We didn’t do that. You just sat back and just >> >> just looked at him.
>> Amazing. >> Amazing amazing to look at. Just amazing. Well, I just being in his presence was awesome. >> The connection was closer than many people realize. During Elvis’s explosive return to live performances in 1969, Cissy Houston and the Sweet Inspirations were right there beside him on stage.
The group provided backup vocals throughout those unforgettable first four weeks at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, running through the end of August. Even with the excitement surrounding his comeback, >> >> stories and rumors about Elvis continued to spread everywhere. One of the most talked about moments from that era happened during a live performance of Are You Lonesome Tonight? >> He would good money and good pay and good It was nice atmosphere, you know, and we didn’t go around with him as his
friends. We worked for him. So, we saw him at work or at rehearsals. People say that he was precious. I said, “Well, I never felt his preciousness.” And I don’t think he was precious, you know. >> While Cissy’s soaring soprano vocals filled the background, Elvis suddenly cracked up on stage and began changing the lyrics, turning the song into a hilarious story about a bald-headed man.
The unexpected moment became one of the most famous live recordings of his career. But Cissy’s time performing with Elvis was surprisingly short. >> He was He was handsome, but he was just as nice, fun. You know, he cracked jokes and all that kind of crap and you’d be singing and he’d make you laugh and whatnot.
So, >> >> we had a good time. >> After that first concert run in the summer of 1969, she left the Sweet Inspirations to spend more time with her children and focus on building her own solo career. Years later, in a 2013 interview with Oprah, Cissy proudly showed off a special gift Elvis had given her, a large gold bracelet.
And hidden inside was a personal inscription featuring Elvis’s nickname for her, Squirrelly. >> Um it was I was opening at Sans and at hotel he was reopening the International Hotel the Hilton now. And um I went to his rehearsal and I I just fell in love with his man. I said, “My God, I got to meet him.
I got to meet him.” And said, “Okay, I’ll introduce you to him.” So, I went to the rehearsal and he and he was such a >> But here’s where the story takes an interesting turn. What if I told you that the Sweet Inspirations weren’t actually Elvis’s first choice for his big Las Vegas comeback shows? >> >> That’s right.
Stick around because later we’ll reveal the other female group Elvis reportedly had his eye on before making his final decision. And Whitney Houston wasn’t the only member of the family that introduced to the King. also brought her talented niece, Dionne Warwick, into Elvis’s circle. By the late 1960s, Dionne was already making serious waves in the music industry, scoring hit after hit and building a name for herself as >> >> one of the era’s standout singers.
Dionne first met Elvis during the summer of 1969 when she stopped by to visit while Elvis was preparing for his highly anticipated Las Vegas performances. >> I um >> >> I told him I was opening at the Sans. He says, “Yeah, but we’re opening the same night.” I said, “Okay.” And he says, “Well, I’m going to I’m going to do something for you that I that I think you might like.
” I said, “Okay, wonderful.” He put his photograph in every single album in every record store in Las Vegas for me. I sold more albums >> >> cuz he made the announcement from the stage that if you buy a Dionne Warwick recording, you’ll have a photograph of me. I I could not believe he did that, but he did.
>> The meeting left a lasting impression on her. As Dionne later wrote in her 2010 memoir, “Elvis let me know he was a fan of my recordings and this was a wonderful thing to hear. For a rising star, getting praise directly from Elvis Presley was a huge moment. Even more surprising, Dion revealed that Elvis offered support and encouragement as she began performing in Las Vegas herself during August 1969 while he was dominating the city with his own sold-out shows.
>> in a movie with Elvis after we did the 1968 comeback special. >> Dionne Warwick had no problem sharing what she really thought about Elvis Presley. In her autobiography, she wrote, “Elvis Presley was one of the prettiest, yes, prettiest men I had ever laid eyes on. Pictures and videos of him really didn’t do him justice.
” >> special. >> Oh, wait. Then I did a movie with him called Change of Habit. >> That compliment caught Elvis completely off guard. Dionne even recalled teasing him about it face-to-face. She wrote, “I once told Elvis he was pretty and he said, ‘How about handsome?’ I said, ‘No, you’re pretty.’ He fell out laughing.
The playful exchange showed a side of Elvis that many fans rarely got to see. And Dionne made it clear that his looks weren’t the only thing that stood out to her. She added, ‘I will also add that he was one of the nicest men I ever met.'” But before Elvis reached out to the Sweet Inspirations for his massive Las Vegas comeback, he actually had another girl group in mind.
That group was the Blossoms, a talented vocal trio he had already worked with on more than one occasion. One of the group’s members, Darlene Love, later shared how their friendship with Elvis began during the filming of his famous 1968 comeback special. The Blossoms joined Elvis as backup singers during the gospel medley and the chemistry between them was instant.
As Darlene remembered, “In those three or four days that the Blossoms were shooting, I felt like I’d known Elvis all my life. She described the experience as pure joy. According to Darlene, Elvis would often grab his guitar during lunch breaks and gather everyone around to sing classic gospel songs together.
She recalled, “At lunchtime, he’d get his guitar and we’d sing old gospel songs. In the ’68 special, he did those songs real, like you do with your friends.” The connection was so strong that Elvis brought the Blossoms back the very next year, inviting them to appear in his 1969 movie, Change of Habit. That made them the leading contenders when Elvis started looking for backup singers for his Las Vegas return.
