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The broadcast offered more than a simple playlist. Kay guided listeners through a journey of Elvis’s storied career—from his earliest hits to his Hollywood ventures. Alongside the top 40 countdown, lesser-known tracks like “Stuck On You,” “The Fool,” and “Good Luck Charm” received attention in a companion programme on BBC Sounds, titled Your Ultimate Elvis Song – The Extras.  

The countdown reflected Elvis’s diverse catalogue, highlighting his evolution as an artist. Starting off at No. 40 was ‘Promised Land’, a high-energy Chuck Berry cover, while ‘Suspicious Minds’, his late-career classic, claimed the top spot. The placement of songs like ‘An American Trilogy’ (No. 7), a medley of 19th-century hymns, and ‘If I Can Dream’ (No. 3), written in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., showed a connection between his emotive songs and the British public.

Voters connected with ‘In the Ghetto’ (No. 2), a poignant story of poverty and its cyclical nature, and ‘Always on My Mind’ (No. 4), recorded in the wake of his separation from Priscilla Presley. Meanwhile, classics like ‘Hound Dog’ (No. 15) and ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ (No. 5) continue to rank highly in the most iconic Elvis tracks.  

The countdown wasn’t just about the music; it explored Elvis’s cultural impact. Vernon Kay shared personal fan stories during the programme. Sarah King recounted her father singing ‘Moody Blue’ (No. 35) to her as a child, changing the lyrics to “moody smoo” and leaving her with a lasting nickname. 

A clip of Cliff Richard also appeared, with the singer discussing the track ‘Blue Christmas’ (No. 28) and saying “No Elvis, no Cliff Richard. He gave an identity to rock and roll that is still with us”.  

The countdown demonstrated how Elvis continues to resonate, as well as how our relationship with his music is constantly evolving. Several songs climbed or fell in rank compared to ITV’s 2013 poll of the UK’s favourite Elvis tracks. Junkie XL’s remix of ‘A Little Less Conversation’ dropped from No. 5 to No. 12, while ‘An American Trilogy’ soared from No. 15 to No. 7.  

Fans took to X to praise the show. One user wrote, “Great show! Pretty much as I would have had it except for a few personal favourites. Those songs from late ’60s and early ’70s were magical.”

Just listened the Elvis countdown on Radio 2 top 40 songs as voted by the public. With Vernon Kay. Great show pretty much as I would have had it except for a few personal favourites. Those songs from late 60’s early 70’s where magical.

— Russ Smith (@Emperorruss) January 1, 2025

As Elvis’s 90th birthday approaches, Your Ultimate Elvis Song is part of a wider coverage of Elvis on BBC Radio 2 ahead of the King’s birthday, proving that his legacy remains vibrant in 2025.

Here’s the top 20:

20.  (Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame (1961)

19. Heartbreak Hotel (1956)

18. Wooden Heart (1960)

17. (You’re the) Devil in Disguise (1963)

16. Return to Sender (1962)

15. Hound Dog (1953)

14. Viva Las Vegas (1964)

13. Are You Lonesome Tonight? (1960)

12. A Little Less Conversation (Junkie XL Remix) (2002)

11. Love Me Tender (1956)

10. Jailhouse Rock (1957)

9. I Just Can’t Help Believing (1970)

8. Burning Love (1972)

7. An American Trilogy (1972)

6. The Wonder of You (1970)

5. Can’t Help Falling in Love (1961)

4. Always on My Mind (1972)

3. If I Can Dream (1968)

2. In the Ghetto (1969)

1. Suspicious Minds (1969)

Digital concerts have had a varied history with Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz pioneering the concept in the West and Japan’s Hatsune Miku continuing to sell out arenas in Asia. However, developments in 3D modelling technology in the last 10 years has given rise to an all new form digital concert. Perhaps most infamously, Coachella 2014 brought us Tupac resurrected and rendered in all of his early-2010s 3D glory. Although still essentially a projection on a large screen, the 2014 Coachella performance imprinted the hologram concert into the music zeitgeist. 

Fast forward ten years and we are now faced with a massive digital performance industry, whether that be entirely online events like Travis Scott’s Fortnite concert in 2020, or holographic arena shows like ABBA’s Voyage. While Voyage still works of the same technology as Tupac’s 2012 performance, all aspects of the process have been greatly improved: 3D modelling, motion capture, projection, lighting, and sound design have all been refined to a high degree in an attempt to convince the audience that they aren’t just looking at a big screen. Despite the band being as unlikely to return to the stage as Tupac, their digital renditions sold 1.4m tickets in its first year. 

Perhaps what hologram concerts need, to truly live up to their futuristic namesake, is a leap in technology. In comes Layered Reality, a UK based digital events specialist who have secured the rights to give Elvis Presley the Lazarus treatment. Layered Reality is a company that specialises in virtual reality (VR)  technology as a vehicle to tell immersive stories to participants. Although official material from Layered Reality is vague on the specifics of the Elvis experience, it appears that it will feature physical set and sound design used in combination with an augmented reality overlay (AR) viewed through a VR headset. 

In addition to this smorgasbord of technological bells and whistles, the digital Elvis will use AI models to generate new dialogue from the star. Speaking to the BBC, Layered Reality’s CEO, Andrew Guinness said: “The AI generates an authentic version of Elvis, born of original material, but it [also] allows you to do new things with him.” Much like the unofficial fan AI covers seen last year like ghostwriter977’s ‘Heart on my Sleeve’, Layered Reality will use old footage and recordings of Presley to train an AI program to mimic his voice. 

The experience is scheduled to take place in London sometime this year. Layered Reality offers a mailing list for those wanting to receive updates on specific locations and dates on their website. 

Lurhmann tends to attract a fair bit of scrutiny and excitement wherever his talents wander, such is his reputation, but the lengthy lay off period and ambition of his latest proposal seems to have stirred up quite the frenzy of interest even by his standards. The main question on everyone’s lips – who’s got the cojones to play Elvis Presley?

The answer to that question is Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actor Austin Butler, a somewhat left field and surprising choice from Luhrmann considering the actor’s fairly unknown profile, however one that is paying off judging by the early reviews and praise his performance is garnering. There were some big names going for the role though, most notably none other than the British mega star Harry Styles.

Recently appearing on the Fitzy and Wippa podcast this week, Baz Luhrmann explained that whilst Styles is a “really talented actor“, he was simply too culturally iconic in his own right to work for the role: “Harry is a really talented actor. I would work on something with him. The real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles. He’s already an icon.“.

Going on to further explain why Austin Butler had the edge he said “The thing about Austin was that he will tell you himself, I didn’t pick him: It’s as if he was drawn, like the role drew him in because he was almost born to play it. You know, we can talk about it now, he loses his mom at the same age that Elvis did. He sends a video to me of this thing and… It just happened like two years of non-stop living and breathing as Elvis. He’s now going through a sort of deprogramming thing because it’s been a long time since he’s known who he was.”

You can catch Elvis in cinemas across the UK from June 24th.