'Gift from God' Elvis is semi-divine, 40 years after death

Memphis : Pilgrims come all day every day, filing past in silence, fighting back tears as they place mementos at Elvis Presley's gravesite, pausing to reflect, take pictures or say a prayer.

More than 600,000 fans visit each year, paying tribute to the icon of popular culture, the once rebellious sex symbol turned family entertainer of whom John Lennon said "before Elvis there was nothing."

Forty years after his tragic death aged 42, floral tributes from around the world still line the Meditation Garden, where the king of rock 'n' roll is buried at his Graceland home in Memphis.

On Tuesday thousands, if not tens of thousands, are expected to attend this year's candle-light vigil to mark the anniversary of Elvis' death.

Lisa Bseiso will be one of them. She had what she calls a "very spiritual, deep encounter" with Presley's spirit when she first visited Graceland with her husband in August 2014.

"He was sitting in a chair," remembers the 36-year-old daughter of a Palestinian father and Colombian mother, born and raised in Qatar.

"He had tears coming down his eyes and he said 'Don't forget me, spread my legacy in your part of the world,'" she recalls.

So she went home and set up The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Qatar, which she now plans to expand to Dubai, Bahrain and Kuwait.