Ladies and gentlemen, the King of Rock n’ Roll is back in the building. An Elvis Presley bust that was stolen from a bar in central Illinois was returned after the story of its theft attracted international attention.
Employees at Jimmy’s Bar were elated after they found the missing bust on Thursday night. The bust was sitting on a porch outside the West Peoria saloon, the Peoria Journal Star reported. The theft had only been discovered Sunday morning, news agency AP reported.
“He’s back!” pub owner Jimmy Spears said early Friday, attributing the bust’s return to the widespread attention its theft had attracted. On Wednesday, the bar’s Facebook page had made an appeal for its return: “No questions asked.”
After the incident, Spears said that he was mulling ways to improve security for the bust. Now that it is back, it is placed in its familiar position, overlooking the saloon and greeting customers from atop the center of its long bar.
Spears, the bar’s owner for 39 years, said his niece bought the bust about 15 years ago at a garage sale for $20, and it soon became the business’ bar-top mascot.
Who was Elvis Presley?
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935. He was an American actor and singer and was dubbed the ‘King of Rock n Roll’. Considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, Presley died on August 16, 1977. He often coupled his energised interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style with a potent mix of influences across color lines. It all happened during the transformative era in race relations and this got his success and controversy, too.
His music career began in 1954 when he recorded at Sun Record with producer Sam Phillips.
Phillips wanted to bring forth the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, who was on rhythm acoustic guitar, was accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black.
(With inputs from Associated Press)