The recently released Elvis Presley Christmas Duets album is becoming one of the best-selling holiday discs of the season, and it’s no surprise that it sits among the Top 5 country albums this week, with the King’s classic Christmas recordings, now duets with such amazing talents as Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson, LeAnn Rimes, and many others. For all of these artists, the chance to participate in the record was a remarkable experience to find their voices paired with one of music’s true icons. And for Priscilla Presley, the project is something she believes will please Elvis‘ legion of fans…and also something that would have made the King very happy. “I think Elvis would be very pleased with the artists that we have on this duet album,” Priscilla remarked. “I think that when you hear the songs, they just, they’re beautiful, all of them, very diverse.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• The star-studded album also features Elvis duets with Amy Grant, Wynonna Judd, Anne Murray, Little Big Town‘s Karen Fairchild & Kimberly Schlapman, and Olivia Newton-John, as well as three more classic, solo Elvis performances, each newly remixed and remastered with additional instrumentation.
• Carrie, Gretchen, Sara, and Amy all share some of their thoughts about participating in the new project, while Priscilla also recalls Christmases with Elvis and their daughter, Lisa Marie. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)  

  Sara Evans says that singing with Elvis was beyond anything she’d ever dreamed. (:18)
“I have done a lot of things in my career, and I’ve been so blessed and so lucky to be able to, you know, sing with a lot of my idols and meet a lot of my idols, and so, absolutely, being a part of this project and, you know, singing a duet with Elvis is just, you know…it’s more than I ever dreamed.”

  Amy Grant talks about her memories of Elvis’ music and recording “White Christmas” for the first time. (:25)
“I love the way Elvis stylized ‘White Christmas.’ I’ve recorded a lot of Christmas music, but I have never recorded the song ‘White Christmas,’ and to get to sing it with Elvis, I mean (sigh). I love my memories of enjoying his music growing up, I love that great Americana Christmas song, and just the whole experience brought a smile to my face…the whole thing.”

  Carrie Underwood wasn’t about to turn down an invitation from Priscilla Presley to sing with Elvis. (:12)
“Priscilla actually asked if I would be a part of the project, so, you know, when Priscilla Presley asks you to sing with Elvis, you do it (laughs).”

  Gretchen Wilson looked at her Elvis Christmas duet, “Merry Christmas Baby,” as a chance to rock out with the King. (:18)
“The reason I chose this particular song was, this one was just really rockin’. It felt like…the track, to me, felt like he really was uninhibited and, like he was just, you know, it was almost like a live feel to it, and I just, you know, I wanted to be able to rock a little bit with him and kind of just be in the moment.”

  Priscilla Presley felt the time was right to do an Elvis duets project. (:17)
“I think Elvis’ fans will love this duet album. And Elvis loved singing with other artists anyway. And this has been a long time coming…it truly has. So I think that they’ll really enjoy it. It’s just something that I feel, it was time.”

  Priscilla Presley thinks the King would be very happy with the Christmas Duets album. (:14)
“I think Elvis would be very pleased with the artists that we have on this duet album. We have multi-gold, multi-platinum, award-winning artists, and I think that when you hear the songs, they just, they’re beautiful, all of them, very diverse.”

  Priscilla Presley recalls Christmases with Elvis and Lisa. (1:07)
“Christmas mornings were usually very early, especially when you have a young child. And it would take Elvis a little bit longer to wake up when Lisa wanted to open up the presents, but it was, you know, you would think that he was a kid, too, really, opening up presents and giving her her gifts from him and from all of us. We would have Vernon Presley over, of course, and the family, and make it as, you know, as much of a Christmas, really, as anybody else. It really isn’t any different. It’s really the spirit that we all put in it. And anytime you have a child, it makes it so much more special. And I think that’s when you really saw Elvis as a little kid. You’d see him glowing, and you know, I remember him giving her a gift, and she’d open it, and before she could even say, ‘Oh, I love it’ or ‘This is great,’ he’d give her another one and watch her open up that gift, and he’d be, you know, smiles and give her another one, so you’d think that, you know, he was getting the gifts, but he was enjoying and really into the pleasure of her receiving them and looking at ’em, being all excited.”