After a rash of celebrity deaths the other week, I'm shocked and sad to report another one. Charlie Hodge, Elvis Presley's guitarist and loyal friend, has died at the age of 71. Hodge lost his battle with lung cancer Friday evening.
Charlie Hodge first met Elvis on the Army transport ship from the New York to Germany, September 1958, and they quickly became friends while stationed in Germany. They stayed best friends until Elvis' death in August 1977. Charlie sang back up, played guitar, handed Elvis water and gave him scarves on stage during the shows. During Elvis' concerts in the seventies, Charlie would put together the set lists of songs to perform. Charlie even lived at Graceland, where Elvis told him to think of it as his home.
After doing some quick research online, I was surprised to find lots of websites devoted to Charlie Hodge. He had a huge fan following. He definitely was in The King's shadow while on stage, but Charlie never seemed to mind to be his right-hand man. Just about all of the concert footage I've seen of Elvis shows Charlie Hodge always smiling in the background as he handed Elvis the infamous scarves. From articles I've read, he was truly content to be working for Elvis.
1 comment:
Wow! What a life. I hope he'll be able to hook up with E again now.
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