Legacy RecordingsThe crypt where Elvis Presley was first laid to rest in 1977 was supposed go up for bid at a memorabilia auction on Saturday, June 23, but the lot was taken off the block prior to the sale. According to The Commercial Appeal, an outcry from Elvis fans around the world opposed to the sale prompted the Forest Hill Funeral Home and Cemetery in Memphis to cancel its plans to auction off the crypt.
Darren Julien, president of Julien's Auctions of Beverly Hills, California, explained to the newspaper that his company "agreed not to proceed with the sale of the Elvis crypt until Forest Hill finds a plan that best suits the interests of the fans while respecting and preserving the memory of Elvis Presley."
He added that he believed the cemetery now wants to make the site "a shrine long term."
Presley was interred in the private crypt alongside his mother, Gladys, for about two months after he died in 1977 while rock 'n' roll icon's father waited for permission to perform a burial at the singer’s Graceland estate. The crypt, which has remained empty ever since, initially was listed at a starting price of $100,000. Julien told The Commercial Appeal he'd expected the bidding to exceed $500,000.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio