The Birthday of a KING !

Elvis Aaron Presley

(January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977)

One of the most popular American singers of the 20th century.

A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis.

He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".

Presley's birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi

Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Vernon Elvis and Gladys Love Presley in the two-room shotgun house built by his father in readiness for the birth. Jesse Garon Presley, his identical twin brother, was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn.
As an only child, Presley became close to both parents and formed an unusually tight bond with his mother.
The family attended an Assembly of God church where he found his initial musical inspiration.
Presley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family at the age of 13.  He began his career there in 1954, working with Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience.   Accompanied by a guitarist and a bassist, Presley was one of the originators of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country and rhythm and blues.
RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage the singer for over two decades.

Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", released in January 1956, was a number one hit.   He became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs, many from African American sources, and his uninhibited performance style made him enormously popular—and controversial. In November 1956, he made his film debut in Love Me Tender.
Conscripted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work.  He staged few concerts however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. In 1968, after seven years away from the stage, he returned to live performance in a celebrated comeback television special that led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of profitable tours. In 1973 Presley staged the first concert broadcast  globally via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii, seen by approximately 1.5 billion viewers.
Prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 from cardiac arrest at the age of 42.

Presley is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. He had a versatile voice and unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including country, pop ballads, gospel, and blues. He is the best-selling solo artist in the history of popular music.
Nominated for 14 competitive Grammys, he won three, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36.  He has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame.

I was lucky enough to have attended a concert by Elvis in the 1970s at the VBCC in Huntsville Alabama.
It was absolutely amazing. He gave the most incredible performance I have ever seen by anyone in my entire life. I still have the souvenier banner I purchased at the concert.


My souvenier banner from the 1970s Concert at VBCC - Huntsville Alabama