Former President Boris Yeltsin who engineered the final collapse of the Soviet Union and pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy, has died, He was 76.

Elvis and John Lennon

 Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin is an Elvis Presley fan. His dearest wish is to visit Graceland and his favorite recording ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT and WELCOME TO MY WORLD.  

On a recently promotional tour Todd Morgan, Graceland's media co-ordinator, spoke to Yeltsin about his obsession with The King of Rock n Roll. "I am a number one fan of Elvis Presley. My doctor Tatiana (Uretzkaya) is a fanatic," said Yeltsin. 

In his apartment in Moscow , Yeltsin has a collection of Elvis memorabilia which he has collected since he first heard Elvis, at age 27. "His beautiful voice is from God. But for many years, in our country, it was impossible to get anything from Elvis," says Yeltsin. "We had no records or tapes. It was a terrible time for our country, because our government decided for us that Elvis was bad."  

 With the overthrow of the Communist Part, Yeltsin is determined to change all that. That is why he eagerly invited Todd Morgan to visit and to discuss the imports of Elvis records, videos, movies and books to Russia .

"The teenager in Russia have always like American music better," says Yeltsin. In fact it was his appreciation, obsession with Elvis that he decided to learn the English language.  

"Before Elvis, I knew only a few words. After listening to his songs, I wanted to understand what the words meant..."

Yeltsin grew up in Sverdlovsk in the Urals. In the 1970's he was the first secretary of the District Central Committee. "I'm not ashamed to tell you, that all my friends at home, and committee members know that I like Elvis," says Yeltsin.

Everyone who know Yeltsin is well aware that the perfect birthday gift for him is an Elvis recording. "Last year, my doctor, Tatiana gave me a homemade tape of Elvis including the AMERICAN TRILOGY. I played in my car everyday. I prefer the slow songs."

Recently his personal physician Tatiana Uretzkaya made the pilgrimage to Graceland and brought back with her many Elvis treasures for her most famous patient. "It was good to receive top quality recordings, the Russian people have been unfortunate to have not had such a wonderful singer as Elvis in this country. I hope I can change that. I would like to opening up our trade relations with the West, says Yeltsin. "And Elvis is a good ambassador. It is a very good way for our people to understand and learn about the America culture."  

  Other famous Elvis fans:
Brad Pitt | Tom Cruise | Bill Clinton | John Lennon