Elvis Presley Biography
Fast Facts
Born January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi
Birth name: Elvis Aaron Presley
Elvis was the first rock and roll star and is considered by many to be "The King of Rock and Roll"
Married Priscilla Wagner on May 1, 1967
Priscilla gave birth to their only child, Lisa Marie, exactly nine months later... February 1, 1968
His first television appearance was on the regionally cast "Louisiana Hayride" on March 5, 1955 in Shreveport, Louisiana
When Ed Sullivan finally allowed him on his show, he filmed only from the waist up since the older generation considered his hip gyrations far too sexual and in bad taste
Elvis Presley: Story of a Legend
A&E's Elvis Presley Biography
He bought Graceland Mansion on the 19th of March, 1957 for $102,500. The mansion is built of tan Tennessee limestone, consists of 23 rooms, and sits on an acreage of 13.7
Elvis could be impulsively generous with friends, family and even complete strangers. If someone admired an item that belonged to Elvis (even one of his many Cadillacs), that person often became the new owner of it.
Famous for his left-sided grin, lip curl, hip swiveling sexuality and powerful voice.
His last concert was in Market Square Arena in Indianapolis on June 26, 1977
On August 16, 1977, Elvis was discovered in his bathroom dead by his fiancé Ginger Alden
The official cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia...the result of years of prescription drug abuse
Eighty-thousand people attended his funeral in Graceland on August 18, 1977
Globally, he has sold one billion records, more than any other artist
Made the first musical video of all time "Jailhouse Rock"(1957)
Elvis Presley Biography
"You must be true to yourself.
But above all...you must honor and love your mother."
Elvis Presley
Elvis grew up as the only child of Gladys and Vernon Presley, a sewing machine operator and truck driver ( Elvis' twin brother, Jessie Garon was stillborn). His home was humble, below the poverty line and quite religious. He spent Sundays singing in his local Assembly of God church choir which emulated African-American psalm singing. He experienced his first musical success as a young boy of ten when he won a singing contest. When his mother bought him his first guitar at the age of twelve, Elvis learned to play basic guitar, although he never did read music.
He moved to Memphis, Tennessee with his family in 1948 where he went to Humes High School. After he graduated in 1953, he went to work driving truck and started studying to become an electrician. Later that year he walked into Memphis Sound Studio, to make a recording for his mother...anyone could record a 10" acetate for 4 dollars here. He caught the attention of Sam Phillips, who also operated Sun Records, an amateur blues label company.
In 1954, Phillips had Elvis record his first singles, "That's All Right, Mama" and "Blue Kentucky Moon". Local listeners were bewildered to learn that Presley was a white man, since he had a "black sound", with his blend of blues, gospel and country. These first recordings established the basic language of rock and roll...he was the first artist to assertively put Rockabilly (a synthesis of blues and country) out into the open market. People enthusiastically bought his records and so a new era was being ushered in.
Elvis recorded 4 more singles while at Sun Records: "Good Rockin' Tonight"/"I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine"; "Milkcow Blues Boogie"/"You're a Heartbreaker"; "Baby, Let's Play House"/"You're Right, She's Left, She's Gone"; "Mystery Train/I Forgot to Remember to Forget". This last release hit #1 on the Country music singles chart. These singles brought Elvis alot of attention and a lot of girls were going crazy over him. He was fast becoming an American Idol.
He started touring the South under the name of the "Hillbilly Cat" and performed on a Shreveport, LA radio station, and after releasing his first national hit on Sun Records, he moved to RCA Records under the supervision of his ambitious personal manager, Colonel Tom Parker. His first national television appearance was actually in 1955 on Jackie Gleason's Stage Show, but it was his 1956 appearance on Ed Sullivan's Talk of the Town that made him a national sensation: his pelvic gyrations were considered so scandalous that he was shown only from the waist up.
That same year he released his
first million-selling single, Heartbreak Hotel and starred in Love Me
Tender, the first of 33 relatively bland films he eventually made. Then in
1958 he was called upon to serve in the U.S. Army, which was a huge interruption
in his career, but
he returned to his recording and film careers with renewed success and
cemented what became virtually an industry.
He achieved his last chart-topping single in 1969, but in 1973 his television special,
Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii was broadcast by satellite to a potential worldwide
audience of over a billion people, and he chiseled out a new career as a
flashy nightclub performer even as he expanded his repertoire to include
traditional and religious songs. In 1973, following his divorce from his
wife Priscilla Presley, he became increasingly addicted to prescription
drugs and
grossly overweight, and he sadly became a recluse in his Memphis
mansion, Graceland.
His death at age 42 shocked his many fans, who to this day have never given up on the music, mementoes, and memory of the man they regard as the King of Rock n' Roll. A remix of an earlier song "A Little Less Conversation" topped the UK charts in 2002, giving Elvis his 18th number one hit in Britain.
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Elvis Presley: Story of a Legend DVD
Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'N' Roll