Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor.

Known as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century.

Presley's energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, brought both great success and initial controversy.

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi; his family relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 13.

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Vernon Presley and Gladys Love (née Smith) Presley.

Elvis' twin Jesse Garon was delivered stillborn.

Presley became close to both parents, especially his mother.

The family attended an Assembly of God church, where he found his initial musical inspiration.

Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, and the family often relied on neighbors and government food assistance.

In 1938 they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of altering a check and jailed for eight months.

In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his teachers regarded him as "average".

His first public performance was a singing contest at the Mississippi–Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, when he was 10; he sang "Old Shep" and recalled placing fifth.

A few months later, Presley received his first guitar for his birthday; he received guitar lessons from two uncles and a pastor at the family's church.

Presley recalled, "I took the guitar, and I watched people, and I learned to play a little bit. But I would never sing in public. I was very shy about it."

In September 1946, Presley entered a new school, Milam, for sixth grade.

The following year, he began singing and playing his guitar at school.

He was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music.

Presley was a devotee of Mississippi Slim's radio show.

He was described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger brother, one of Presley's classmates.

Slim showed Presley chord techniques.

When his protégé was 12, Slim scheduled him for two on-air performances.

Presley was overcome by stage fright the first time but performed the following week.

His music career began there in 1954, at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience.

Presley, on guitar and accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues.

In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for more than two decades.

Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States.

Within a year, RCA Victor would sell ten million Presley singles.

With a series of successful television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular rock and roll; though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans led to him being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of white American youth.

In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender.

Some of Presley's most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964).

Drafted into military service in 1958, he relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work.

Presley held few concerts, however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided.

In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed NBC television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours.

In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii.

However, years of prescription drug abuse and unhealthy eating habits severely compromised his health, and Presley died unexpectedly in August 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42.

Having sold roughly 500 million records worldwide, Presley is one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, rockabilly, rhythm & blues, adult contemporary, and gospel.

He won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame.

He also holds several records, including the most RIAA-certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number-one singles by any act on the UK Singles Chart.

In 2018, Presley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.