June 6th in Elvis History

It’s June sixth, and on this day in 1968… Elvis Presley was in Los Angeles, deep in rehearsals for his upcoming television special at the offices of Binder-Howe Productions, when the news came that Senator Robert F. Kennedy had died from an assassination attempt the day before. The tragedy deeply affected Elvis, and director Steve Binder recognized an opportunity to reflect that emotion in the show. Binder asked songwriter Earl Brown to write a new closing number that would express Elvis’s grief, hope, and belief in a better world. The result was “If I Can Dream,” a powerful anthem that Elvis agreed to perform—delivering one of the most moving and iconic moments of his entire career.