“Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can’t help but move to it. That’s what happens to me. I can’t help it.” – Elvis Presley.
- Elvis Presley was a singer, actor and musician from America, who was very popular in the rock and roll genre.
- ‘Elvis Presley’ was also known as ‘the King of Rock and Roll’ and ‘The King’, and had the full name of ‘Elvis Aaron Presley’ and his middle name was originally spelt ‘Aron’.
- Elvis Presley was born on 8 January, 1935, in Mississippi’s Tupelo in the United States, as a twin, although his older identical brother was stillborn, making Elvis an only child.
- Elvis Presley had been a good singer since childhood, despite some people not liking his style, although bullying and shyness contributed to stage fright and failed grades for music.
- Elvis Presley first recorded himself in 1953, at Sun Records, trying to gain recognition, later forming a trio with Bill Black and Winfield ‘Scotty’ Moore brought together by Sun Record’s founder, Sam Phillips.
Elvis Presley
Image courtesy of Brett Jordan/Flickr
- Elvis Presley started to become popular in 1955 and his popularity grew until 1958 when he joined the US Army, but his producers kept his music coming and he was able to quickly slot back into his music career two years later, with a number one hit in 1960.
- Elvis Presley performed in genres of rock and roll, pop, rockabilly, R&B, gospel, country and blues, and was initially thought to be an African American by some who had only heard him, due to the style of his voice and music.
- Elvis Presley married Priscilla Wagner on 1 May, 1967, and they had a daughter, Lisa Marie, but divorced in 1973, and it was only a few years later that he died on 16 August, 1977, aged 42, in Tennessee’s Memphis, in the United States, prior to just starting a tour, likely due to heart attack that was possibly caused by drugs.
- Elvis Presley was entombed at Forest Hill Cemetery, Memphis, two days after his death, with 80,000 people lining the streets in the area, and he was later buried at his Graceland estate, also in Memphis, even though some believe Presley actually faked his death.
- Elvis Presley had 70 albums, more than 100 singles, featured in 33 films, achieved 90 gold album awards, a total of 77 platinum and multi-platinum album awards, and is the ‘best selling solo albums artist’ in the United States ever, and won three Grammy awards in his lifetime.
Bibliography:
Elvis Presley, 2013, Bio.com, http://www.biography.com/people/elvis-presley-9446466
Elvis Presley, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley
