Elvis Presley’s iconic blue suede shoes fetch a whopping $150,000

A client from California purchased the shoes, Henry Aldridge and Son confirmed to CNN. These were Presley’s iconic blue suede shoes, famously featured in the opening track of his debut album in 1956.

The auctioneer stated that Presley wore these shoes during performances of I Want You, I Need You, I Love You and Hound Dog on The Steve Allen Show in 1956. He later gave them to his friend Alan Fortas in 1958, just before departing for the US Army. Jimmy Velvet, a close friend of Presley and founder of the Elvis Presley Museum, authenticated the shoes.

The lot included a letter of authenticity signed by Jimmy Velvet and a letter from Alan Fortas detailing the night Presley gave him the shoes. According to the auction site, Fortas’s letter describes an all-night party at Graceland before Presley’s army induction in Memphis.

It mentions visiting the Rainbow roller rink and Presley giving away clothes he would not need after returning from the army. Fortas received the blue suede shoes, size 10 and a half, that night and had owned them ever since.

Henry Aldridge and Son reported that another significant piece of music history was sold on the same day as Presley’s shoes. An outfit worn by rock legend Freddie Mercury in Queen’s music video for I’m Going Slightly Mad fetched £197,000 (almost Rs 2.08 crore), according to the auctioneer.