Rare footage of Elvis Presley's last ever performances up for auction

Original, unedited footage of two of Elvis Presley’s last live performances shortly before his death in 1977 are set to go under the hammer in LA.

The four-and-a-half hour, 27-song audio and video recordings will be up for auction next week at Mecum Celebrity Items Auction in Santa Monica. The footage was shot at the King of Rock n Roll’s final shows at Omaha, Nebraska and Rapid City, South Dakota respectively.

“It was shot on Elvis’ final tour for a one-hour CBS-TV special, Elvis in Concert,” said author Alanna Nash to Billboard. ”The special, which aired two months after Presley’s death in August 1977, was immediately controversial, mostly for the ethics of shining the spotlight on a man so shaky and obviously ill, whose performances ranged wildly from embarrassing and sad to brilliant and triumphant. Elvis Presley Enterprises chose not to release it on home video, though footage has been available on bootlegs for years.”

The auction contract contains a stipulation that the winning bidder must not replicate, publish or broadcast the material to the public. Find out more here.