Elvis Presley, often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "The King" was one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century.
Yet, people probably don't know that he made his start performing at Assembly of God Church in Tupelo, Mississippi. This is where he first learned to love the Lord and play the guitar. Also, this is where a Trinitarian Pentecostal preacher baptized Elvis when he was just a child. The Bible inevitably impacted his work.
Elvis' only Grammy awards were for his gospel music, winning best-sacred performance in 1967 and best inspirational performance in 1972 and 1974.
Two of his Bibles are located in Washington, D.C, as a part of the collection at the Museum of the Bible. One of the Bibles was his personal, and the other one was gifted by a fan.
While the museum is closed because of COVID-19, the museum's lead curator of art and exhibitions, Amy Van Dyke, shared on the website the story about the first time she held Elvis' personal Bible. She mentioned that she grew up with Elvis' music and even owns the record of Elvis' which was handed down from her great-grandmother.
She remembered when Elvis' Bible first came to the museum a few years ago. She had the opportunity to hold it and open it. And she could see Elvis' name written in and his notes. She said it made her think this was "something special to him" by all the notes in the margins.
"His favorite book, from what it looks like, was the book of Psalms," she shared. "Because in the book of Psalms there's a lot of notations and writings in there, which makes sense because it's a book of songs. So for a musician, it made a lot of sense."
She continued, "And in the back of that Bible, there's also some writing and some stanzas that he's written in there and poems and other things that really spoke to him."
The other Bible that was gifted by the fan named Pat Hyder of Cowpens on Feb. 20, 1977, and she scribed her address inside, maybe hoping for a letter back from the King himself.
Dr. Jeffrey Kloha, a chief curatorial officer at the museum, told Fox News it's no surprise the King spent so much time in the book of Psalms.
"Musicians have always found inspiration in the Psalms," Kloha said. "Like Elvis, J. S. Bach, for example, wrote notes in his Bible throughout the Psalms. This is because the Psalms themselves are intended to be sung, and have been sung in churches and synagogues for centuries."
Meanwhile, since the museum is closed, it created a series called the "Lonesome Curator" on YouTube, where museum staffs shared the Bibles, including Elvis'.
