I was eight. I was watching a Godzilla movie, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster on the local channel that played old horror movies on the weekends and 50s-60s sitcoms during the week.
My mom came running into the room. "Change the channel! Change the channel!"
Elvis was dead.
I saw him live in 1973. No singing star was bigger.
I was driving home from work when I heard it.
I was filling my car with at a gas station in Pismo Beach, CA. when I heard the news....wasnt such a fan of his...but now I realize how talented a singer he was....all he needed was a hard headed doc and pharmacist...he needed a big time psych intervention...a shame his friends, coperformers, and family didnt see his life threatening problems. A real waste.
.
Me too. I was working for a house framing crew prior to heading back to college. That day it was about 100 degrees and 90% humidity and my job was to lug 4x8 sheets of plywood up three flights to stairs to hand to the guy who was putting them on the roof. I was dying. Out of the blue, the owner of the home building company drove up and told us work was finished for the day and we should all go home. When we asked why, he said it was because Elvis had just died and it would be disrespectful to continue working under those circumstances. I had never been an Elvis fan until that moment. :-)