It was 70 years ago today that Elvis Presley graduated from LC Humes High School in Memphis, Tennessee.
And during this period, the star who dated many women across his 42 years, was going out with one of his very first girlfriends, 15-year-old Dixie Locke.
The couple met each other at a church function in Memphis before he shot to fame and she remembers a handsome and very shy boy. The picture of them together here below is from her junior prom on May 6, 1955.
Appearing previously on Channel 5’s documentary Elvis: The Man Who Shook Up The World, Dixie shared memories of the young King before he skyrocketed to global stardom.
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Dixie said of the 18-year-old Elvis: “He was very shy about meeting new people and even in our Sunday school class he didn’t make a whole lot of friends at that time. But, of course, all the girls were just goo goo over him, so the girls went up to him and spoke to him. He kinda loosened up a little after that, but he was so shy when we first met.”
Nevertheless, The King’s early girlfriend could tell he was destined for greatness.
Dixie, who was played by Natasha Bassett in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis movie, continued: “He had such a God-given talent to sing. He had the most beautiful singing voice. And he felt truly that The Lord had given him that talent and that he was going to do something with it one day.”
Even though he was very talented, the young King really struggled with his shyness, even performing with the lights off at family gatherings when he was young. Incredibly, he finished far from first place when had his first singing competition, but would go on to become the most successful solo artist in the history of music.
