John Lennon reveals what it was like to meet Elvis Presley - 'He just seemed normal'
The Beatles were invited to Elvis Presley's home in Bel Air, California in 1965 - and after their meeting, John Lennon said the King of Rock and Roll was 'great'
by Chiara Fiorillo
12:46 ET, 04 Nov 2025
The King of Rock and Roll welcomed the Fab Four to his house in Bel Air on August 27, 1965. The rock band from Liverpool, England, had got in touch with Elvis, who was living away from the public eye at this point - and he invited the group over as he "respected the way they had achieved their artistic freedom," Elvis' ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, revealed.
During their meeting, The Beatles ended up jamming with Elvis taking up duties on the bass. The following day, the Fab Four played at San Francisco's Balboa Stadium and radio DJ Jerry G. Bishop, who was aware of their meeting with The King, he asked whether it had lived up to their expectations. Both Paul McCartney and John had high praise for Elvis.
Paul said, "I think he was exactly like I imagined, yeah. I didn't quite know what to expect when we went there, you know. I mean, I thought that he'd be the same, but I didn't know how the atmosphere or anything would be in the place. But it was good, 'cuz it was all old mates around. Old mates of his, you know, and we brought quite a few of ours. And so we just had a bit of a 'do."
John added that Elvis "just seemed normal to us" as he explained, "We were asking him about just making movies and not doing any personal appearances or TV. And he seems to enjoy it, you know. I think he enjoys making movies so much.
"We couldn't stand not doing personal appearances. We'd get bored. We get bored quickly. He says he misses it a bit, you know. He's just… he was great. He was just how I expected him."
Unfortunately, no footage of the iconic meeting exists. In his Anthology documentary series, Paul noted that Elvis as one of the first musical artists he ever took note of and described him as a "guru" of music. He said, "I remember being in school when I was a kid and somebody had a picture in one of the musical papers of Elvis Presley. I think it was an advert for Heartbreak Hotel. I just looked at it and thought, 'he's so good looking, he looks perfect.'"
Heartbreak Hotel was released on January 27, 1956, and was a Billboard Top 100 chart topper. The track also left a lasting impression on John who considered it a "great" alternative to American music of the times. John told the NME, "We'd never heard American voices singing like that. They always sang like Sinatra or enunciate very well.
"Suddenly, there's this hillbilly hiccuping on tape echo and all this bluesy stuff going on. And we didn't know what Elvis was singing about … It took us a long time to work what was going on. To us, it just sounded as a noise that was great." Elvis passed away in Memphis, Tennessee, on August 16, 1977.
John was shot dead at the age of 40 in New York City on December 8, 1980. Paul, 83, is still touring with his Got Back tour, which has dates scheduled through the end of 2025.
nina notes: sadly no film or audio - but there are a few photos
