With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture. By 1956, he was an international sensation. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to rca victor. In 1954, he began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis.
He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953.īiography: Elvis' musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He has had more than 120 singles in the US top 40, across various musical genres, with over 20 reaching number one.Įlvis Aaron (sometimes spelled Aron) Presley, in the humblest of circumstances, was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. Some of those records have since been matched and/or broken by other artists, but some of his records will probably remain unbroken and/or unmatched forever. This claim is allegedly backed up by thousands of so-called Elvis sightings that have occurred in the years since his death, and by the fact that his middle name Aron was misspelled Aaron, with two As, on his tombstone.ĭuring an active recording career that spanned more than two decades, Presley set and broke many records for both concert attendance and sales. Many fans persist in claiming he is still alive, that he went into hiding for various reasons. In fact, there is a widespread belief that Elvis-who was known by his first name-did not die in 1977. His legend has only grown stronger since his death. This was the first time that a single song held the #1 spot in all three charts.Įlvis remains a popular and enigmatic star. An example of this is evident in Elvis' hit song "Heartbreak Hotel" which reached #1 not only in the pop charts, but the R&B and C&W charts as well. One of the reasons Elvis was so popular was because of his ability to merge attributes of what was perceived to be "white" (C&W) and "black" (R&B) music. Each of these recordings featured a country and western song on one side and a rhythm and blues song on the other.
One of these covers was a country and western song, "Blue Moon of Kentucky".Įlvis is the best-selling solo artist of all time in the United States with confirmed 189.2 million records in RIAA shipments.īefore Sam Philips sold Elvis' contract to rca victor in 1956 for $35,000 they had recorded six two-sided singles. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis.Įlvis Presley began his music career at Sun Records in the spring of 1954 when Sam Philips recorded Elvis performing several of Elvis' favourite songs with Scotty Moore (guitar) and Bill Black (bass). Elvis Aaron Presley (Tupelo, Mississippi, JanuMemphis, Tennessee, August 16, 1977), was an American singer, song producer and actor.