Larry Rivera, a longtime Kaua‘i entertainer at the Coco Palms Resort, spoke with Lee Pearlman and George Klein on Sirius Satellite Radio in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday. The phone conversation at Rivera’s home came during a week-long celebration of the
Larry Rivera, a longtime Kaua‘i entertainer at the Coco Palms Resort, spoke with Lee Pearlman and George Klein on Sirius Satellite Radio in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday.
The phone conversation at Rivera’s home came during a week-long celebration of the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock n Roll,” who died Aug. 16, 1977.
Rivera initially met Elvis when the King visited the Coco Palms in the 1960s and became good friends with him during following visits.
Elvis helped put Hawai‘i on the map with the 1961 movie “Blue Hawai‘i, a musical film staged on O‘ahu and Kaua‘i that brought the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands to the big screen for Mainland audiences.
Rivera and his family currently coordinate the “Blue Hawai‘i” weddings in the same lagoon where budding entrepreneur Chad Gates, the character Presley portrayed in the movie, married his sweetheart.
