Get ready to cel­e­brate the 75th Birthday Anniversary of the King of Rock and Roll—Elvis Presley in the birth­place of America’s music, Mississippi!

“Elvis Presley’s 75th Birthday Celebration, begin­ning on January 7 in Tupelo, promises a vari­ety of birth­day week events that will help kick-off the year and con­tinue the cel­e­bra­tion of Mississippi’s musi­cal influ­ence on the world,” stated Mississippi Development Authority Tourism Director Mary Beth Wilkerson. “Additional events like “Sparkle & Twang: Marty Stuart’s American Musical Odyssey” will occur through­out 2010 to enhance the tourism expe­ri­ence for our guests.”

The party begins in the city of his birth­place, Tupelo, Mississippi, on Thursday, January 7, 2010, at the Lyric Theatre. Two cham­pi­ons from the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest, Bill Cherry and Brandon Bennett, will per­form all the clas­sic hits by the man who from his hum­ble begin­nings in north­east Mississippi became the undis­puted King of Rock and Roll. Tickets are $20 to $79. Call the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association for more infor­ma­tion and to pur­chase tick­ets, 662–841-6598.

Friday, January 8, 2010, at the Elvis Presley Birthplace, you’re invited to enjoy free admis­sion to the house all day, as well as enjoy all the other attrac­tions at the memo­r­ial gar­den. At 1 p.m., Tupelo city lead­ers and other offi­cials will be on hand to com­mem­o­rate the day, and of course, like any great birth­day party, a cake will be served to cel­e­brate 75 years of the life and leg­end of Elvis.

Attractions in the gar­den rep­re­sent Elvis’ child­hood includ­ing the “walk of life” around the birth­place which fea­tures 42 gran­ite blocks rep­re­sent­ing each year of Elvis’ life, a “foun­tain of life” which sym­bol­izes his life spent in Tupelo, a “story wall” fea­tur­ing eleven child­hood sto­ries as told by boy­hood friends.

The site also show­cases a chapel for events and med­i­ta­tion. The newest attrac­tion is the Assembly of God church Elvis attended as a young boy. The build­ing has been fully restored and offers a pre­sen­ta­tion of an old-fashioned wor­ship ser­vice. Find out more details about the events and Elvis’ birth­place in Tupelo by going to: http://www.elvispresleybirthplace.com.

Celebrate the Musical Success of Mississippi’s own Marty Stuart

In addi­tion to all of the fes­tiv­i­ties sur­round­ing Elvis Presley’s 75th Birthday, you’ll also want to plan on see­ing another one of Mississippi’s out­stand­ing musi­cians, Marty Stuart.

On Friday, January 8, 2010, Marty Stuart will be in Tupelo for sev­eral spe­cial events, includ­ing the open­ing of an excep­tional exhibit of music mem­o­ra­bilia that will be on dis­play in Tupelo through June 30, 2010. In July, the exhibit will move to Meridian for a show­ing there through September 2010.

“Sparkle & Twang: Marty Stuart’s American Musical Odyssey” is Stuart’s own unique col­lec­tion from an impres­sive list of celebrity per­form­ers. The exhibit rep­re­sents more than 40 years of clas­sic per­form­ers that made coun­try, blue­grass, rock and south­ern gospel music famous.

In addi­tion, the exhibit show­cases cos­tumes, instru­ments, lyrics and other one-of-a-kind pieces includ­ing Elvis Presley’s sweater, Patsy Cline’s makeup case, Johnny Cash’s “man in black” suit and the hand-written lyrics to Hank Williams’ hit “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”

This col­lec­tion demon­strates how much fash­ion and music have influ­enced pop­u­lar cul­ture. It also tells the per­sonal story of Mississippi’s native son, Marty Stuart and his rise to star­dom. The exhibit is at the Tupelo Automobile Museum, 1 Otis Boulevard, Tupelo, Mississippi. For more infor­ma­tion and exhibit hours, go to www.tupeloauto.com.

You are invited to meet Marty Stuart in per­son Friday, January 8, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. He’ll be at the Tupelo Automobile Museum and his “Sparkle and Twang” exhibit to sign copies of his book, “Country Music: The Masters.”

To com­plete his visit, don’t miss Marty Stuart in con­cert on Friday, January 8, at 8:00 p.m. Call (662) 690‑4011 for tick­ets and details, and enjoy one of coun­try music’s great­est per­form­ers in the inti­mate set­ting of the Link Centre.

And to make all of the arrange­ments for your trip here for the 75th Birthday of Elvis Presley, as well as Marty Stuart’s “Sparkle & Twang” exhibit, be sure to go to www.VisitMississippi.org for news, events and all kinds of help­ful travel infor­ma­tion designed to make your trip to Tupelo— or any­where else in Mississippi—a great suc­cess and a fun way to start the New Year.

Photo by jim­my­wayne

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