THE KING

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in the southern US town of Tupelo,
Mississippi. Elvis went on to become one of the most popular musicians of the twentieth
century. He was the world's first rock star, and is considered by many to be the king of rock and
roll

Elvis was born into a poor, Christian family. He first developed a love of singing through
attending church with his parents as a child. He also listened to many different kinds of music
back then that would influence his singing style later, including country music, rhythm and
blues, and gospel music

After being told by a teacher that he had no musical talent, Elvis took his guitar into school the
next day and sang his kind of music to her, in a bid to prove her wrong! It wouldn't be the last
time he was told that he couldn't sing. He failed a number of singing auditions in his younger
days, and was told by one bandleader not to give up his day job, and that he should stick to
truck driving.
Elvis and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was thirteen. In 1953, Elvis cut
his first record - a song called “My Happiness”. He recorded the song at the Memphis
Recording Service. The story goes that he paid four dollars to make a recording for his mother.
The receptionist at the recording studio also worked for an independent record company called
Sun Records. She made a second recording of Elvis’s songs because she thought that Sam
Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, ought to hear him sing.

Sam Phillips had been looking for a white performer who could sing the rhythm and blues style
of music popularized by the black artists signed to his record label. He recruited a guitar player
and a bass player to work with Elvis, and recorded some of their sessions. Elvis's first single for
the Sun label featured two tracks: That's All Right and Blue Moon of Kentucky. The record was
released on July 19, 1954.

The record sold well in Memphis, and attracted a lot of airplays on local radio stations. Sam
Phillips organized a series of performances at county fairs in the area, to promote Elvis and let
other people hear him sing. One of the people who heard Elvis perform at these shows was
Colonel Tom Parker, who would become Elvis's manager not long after. In 1956, Elvis's song
“Heartbreak Hotel” made it to number one in the US charts. The song became an enormous hit,
and made Elvis famous. It led to his many appearances on television.

By the mid-1950's, Elvis Presley was known around the world as the young man who moved his
hips in a suggestive way as he sang rock and roll music. Many adults said he and his music were
bad influences on young people. Young women loved him. Huge crowds attended his
performances. He made his first movie in 1956. It was “Love Me Tender.” The title song was a
big hit.

Elvis Presley was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood for a number of years in the
1950's. He acted in thirty-one movies. In 1956, just as he finished making the movie “King
Creole,” Elvis was called up to serve in the United States Army. He was stationed in Germany
where he lived in a large house and dated a lot of beautiful women. While he was in Germany
he met Priscilla Beaulieu, the daughter of an Army officer. Later, after Elvis had finished his
army service, she moved to America to live with him in Memphis. They married in 1957, when
she was twenty-one years old and he was thirty-two. Their daughter, Lisa Marie, was born nine
months later.

Elvis's manager Colonel Parker made sure that the songs he had recorded earlier were released
during the years he was in the army, so that Elvis stayed as popular after his military service as
he was before it. Elvis Presley won the music industry’s highest award, the Grammy, three
times. He received his first Grammy in 1967. It was for “How Great Thou Art,” an album of
religious music.

Elvis returned to performing live shows in 1969, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He then travelled
around the country performing before huge crowds. He began to take drugs to help him sleep.
He gained a lot of weight so he took drugs to help control his weight. He took very strong
painkillers and he also suffered from depression. His depression became worse after his
marriage to Priscilla ended.

Elvis Presley released many recordings of his performances during the 1970's. He also enjoyed
great success on television. His 1973 television show from Hawaii was seen in forty countries
by more than a billion people. His last record album was called “Moody Blue.” He recorded it
in 1976. One of the hit songs from the album was called “Way Down”

Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, just as he was making a comeback. He was only forty-
two years old. First reports said he had a heart attack, but later tests showed many drugs in his
body. Experts agree that these drugs probably caused his death.

His talent, charisma and movie star look attracted millions of loyal fans, and hundreds of
thousands of people still visit his home, Graceland, in Memphis every year. He was inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. People continue to buy his music, making him the
most popular recording artist of all time.