‘WE'RE ELVIS' BIGGEST FANS!'

Three generations of the Steel family couldn’t help falling in love with the Blue Suede Shoes showman

- Ruth McCarthy

The voice, the swagger, the quiff... when 21-year-old Elvis Presley performed Heartbreak Hotel on television for the first time in 1956, the charismatic singing sensation changed the music scene forever.

And while August 16 this year marks the 45th anniversary of his death, lifelong fans Anne Steel, daughter Tiffany, 46, and granddaughter Ruby, 14, have made sure his legacy has remained as powerful through their annual event, the Parkes Elvis Festival.

“I was 11 years old and loved listening to him on the radio,” 78-year-old Anne swoons, who along with her husband Bob, 80, founded the festival.

“When his first movie Love Me Tender came out, I saw it at the picture palace and then I was smitten – he was so handsome and talented.”

Lucky for Anne, her husband of 58 years, Bob, was an Elvis fan too, and won Anne’s heart by buying her Elvis records, taking her to see his movies and even serenading her with, “Let me be your teddy bear.”

It was a given that when the couple had children, they’d be pint-sized Presley appreciators, too. “As a little girl I soon learned I didn’t have a choice when it came to music – it was the Elvis way or the highway,” Tifflaughs.

NEVER TOO YOUNG

Similarly, for teenager Ruby, her fate as an Elvis fan was set in stone too!