Something very special happened in Hawaii on 14th January 1973

The Honolulu International Center (known today as the Blaisdell Center) hosted a concert titled "Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite" on this day. Elvis Presley was at the prime of his musical career, having finally given up on his mediocre movie career which spanned close to a decade in the 1960s. While his 1968 Comback Special truly signalled that "Elvis is back", the "Aloha from Hawaii" concert is perhaps his most iconic live performance.

The pressure of capturing this live telecast had been so great, that a complete, untelevised rehearsal concert was held in front of a different audience on the 12th of January. The two shows were expected to raise USD 25,000 for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund. Tickets carried no face value. Instead, audience members were asked to pay whatever they could afford. The two audiences raised more than USD 75,000.

This haunting song, written and composed by Kuiokalani Lee, who died of lymph gland cancer at the age of 34 was performed at this show as a tribute to him;

This was the first television entertainment event by a single performer that was broadcast live, across the globe and at USD 2.5 million, it was the most expensive entertainment event held at the time.

The one hour show, which began at 12.30am on Sunday, 14th January 1973, was estimated to have been watched by 1 - 1.5 billion people worldwide, and was beamed live to more than 40 countries.

Now that's pretty special :-)