Wife and daughter
Priscilla Beaulieu Presley had stayed with Presley during the 1960s (they had first met in Germany, when she was only fourteen). They married on May 1, 1967, in Las Vegas. A daughter, Lisa Marie, was born nine months later. Even Priscilla has claimed that the singer was not overly active sexually during their five-year marriage. At least they divorced, becouse she didn't stand his habits and the rithm of his life.
Return to live performances
In 1969, Presley made record-breaking appearances in Las Vegas. He then toured across the U.S. up to his death, with many of the 1,145 concerts setting venue attendance records. He also had hit singles in many countries. Presley's song repertoire was criticized, indicating he was still distant from trends within contemporary music. On December 21, 1970, Presley met with President Richard Nixon at the White House. Presley arrived with a gift—a handgun. It was accepted but not presented for security reasons. Presley was somewhat bizarrely wanting to express his patriotism, his contempt for the hippie drug culture and his wish to be appointed a "Federal Agent at Large". He also wished to obtain a Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs badge to add to similar items he had begun collecting. After his divorce in 1973, Presley became increasingly isolated and overweight, with prescription drugs affecting his health, mood and his stage act. Despite this, his "thundering" live version of "How Great Thou Art" won him a Grammy award in 1974 and he continued to play to sell-out crowds. A 1975 tour ended with a concert in Michigan, attended by over 62,000 fans. By now Presley had "no motivation to lose his extra poundage... he became self-conscious... his self-confidence before the audience declined. Headlines such as 'Elvis Battles Middle Age' and 'Time Makes Listless Machine of Elvis' were not uncommon." According to Marjorie Garber, when Presley made his later appearances in Las Vegas, he appeared "heavier, in pancake makeup... with an elaborate jeweled belt and cape, crooning pop songs to a microphone ... He had become Liberace. Even his fans were now middle-aged matrons and blue-haired grandmothers, who praised him as a good son who loved his mother; Mother's Day became a special holiday for Elvis' fans." Almost throughout the 1970s, RCA had been increasingly concerned about making money from Presley material: they often had to rely on live recordings because of problems getting him to attend studio sessions. RCA's mobile studio was occasionally sent to Graceland in the hope of capturing an inspired vocal performance. Once in a studio, he could lack interest or be easily distracted; often this was linked to his health and drug problems.