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other persons and things named Elvis, see Elvis
(uation).

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Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 –
August 16, 1977), also known as Rock and Roll|The
King of Rock and Roll or The King, was an United
States|American singer and actor. Early in his
career he was referred to as The Hillbilly Cat.
Later, his friends referred to him as "E".

Presley is widely regarded as the most influential
entertainer in the history of popular music.
Rolling Stone magazine said  "Elvis Presley is
rock 'n' roll" and called his body of work "acres
of perfect material." During a career spanning two
decades Presley set and broke many sales records
with over 100 top 40 hit singles including 18
number ones. 

==An American phenomenon==
Elvis Presley is widely credited with bringing
rock and roll into mainstream culture. According
to Rolling Stone magazine "it was Elvis who made
rock 'n' roll the international language of pop."
A PBS documentary once described Presley as "an
American music giant of the 20th century who
singlehandedly changed the course of music and
culture in the mid-1950s."
http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_saa_
elvispresley.html. His recordings, dance moves,
attitude and clothing came to be seen as
embodiments of rock and roll. Presley sang both
hard driving Rockabilly|rockabilly and Rock and
Roll|rock and roll dance songs and ballads, laying
a commercial foundation upon which other rock and
roll musicians would build. African
American|African-American performers like Little
Richard and Chuck Berry came to national
prominence after Presley's acceptance among mass
audiences of White race|white teenagers. Singers
like Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy
Holly, Roy Orbison and others immediately followed
in his wake, leading John Lennon to later observe,
"Before Elvis, there was nothing."


Teenagers came to Presley's concerts in
unprecedented numbers. When he performed at the
Mississippi-Alabama Fair in 1956 a hundred
National Guardsmen surrounded the stage to control
crowds of excited fans. When municipal politicians
began denying permits for Presley appearances
teens piled into cars and traveled elsewhere to
see him perform. It seemed as if the more adults
tried to stop it, the more teenagers across North
America insisted on having what they wanted. When
adult programmers announced they would not play
Presley's music on their radio stations (some
because God told them it was sexually suggestive
Devil music, others saying it was southern
"nigger" music) the economic power of that
generation became evident when they tuned in any
radio station playing Elvis records. In an
industry already shifting to all-music formats in
reaction to television, profit-conscious radio
station owners learned hard lessons when sponsors
bought advertising time on new rock and roll
stations reaching enormous markets at night with 
clear channel signals from Mediumwave|AM
broadcasts.

During the 1950s post-WWII economic boom in the
United States, many parents were able to give
their teenaged children much higher weekly
allowances, signalling a shift in the buying power
and purchasing habits of teens. During the 1940s
Bobby soxer|bobby soxers had idolized Frank
Sinatra but the buyers of his records were mostly
between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two.
Presley triggered a juggernaut of demand for his
records by near-teens and early teens aged ten,
twelve, thirteen and up. 

Presley's overwhelming appeal was to girls. Many
boys adapted his look to attract them. Along with
Elvis' ducktail haircut, the demand for black
slacks and loose, open-necked shirts resulted in
new lines of clothing for teenaged boys. In 1956
America, birthday and Christmas gifts were often
music or even Elvis related. A girl might get a
pink portable 45 rpm record player for her
bedroom. Meanwhile American teenagers began buying
newly available portable transistor radios
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/medill/inside/m
edill_voices/how_transistor_radios_and_web_and_new
spapers_and_hifi_radio_are_alike.html and listened
to rock 'n' roll on them (helping to propel that
fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units
sold in 1955 to 5,000,000 units by the end of
1958). Teens were asserting more independence and
Elvis Presley became a national symbol of their
parents' consternation.

Presley's impact on the American youth consumer
market was noted on the front page of The Wall
Street Journal on December 31, 1956 when future
Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting|Pulitzer
Prize-winning business journalist Louis M.
Kohlmeier wrote, "Elvis Presley today is a
business," and reported on the singer's record and
merchandise sales (this may have been the first
time a journalist described an entertainer as a
business). Half a century later, historian Ian
Brailsford (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
commented, "The phenomenal success of Elvis
Presley in 1956 convinced many doubters of the
financial opportunities existing in the youth
market."
http://www.kingston.ac.uk/cusp/Lectures/Brailsford
paper.doc

===Birth & Childhood===
Presley was born in a two-room house in Tupelo,
Mississippi|East Tupelo, Mississippi to Vernon
Elvis Presley and Gladys Love Smith Presley. He
was raised both in East Tupelo (which merged with
Tupelo in 1948) and later in Memphis, Tennessee,
where his family moved when he was 13. Elvis had a
twin brother (Jesse Garon Presley) who died at
birth. In 1949 the family moved to Lauderdale
Courts public housing development which was near
musical and cultural influences like Beale Street,
Ellis Auditorium and the Poplar Tunes record store
along with the Sun Studio about a mile away. 

In her book, Elvis and Gladys author Elaine Dundy
wrote that those close to Elvis as a boy say he
was a fan of comic book superhero Captain Marvel,
Jr. and would later model his trademark hairstyle
and some of his Stage clothes|stage costumes on
the comic book character.

Elvis took up the guitar at 11 and practiced in
the basement laundry room at Lauderdale Courts. He
played gigs in the malls and courtyards of the
Courts with other musicians who lived there. After
high school he worked at Precision Tool Company,
then drove a truck for the Crown Electric Company.

===Elvis Presley's Sun recordings|The Sun
recordings===
In the summer of 1953 Presley paid $4 to record
the first of two double-sided demo
Cellulose_acetate|acetates at Sun Records|Sun
Studios, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your
Heartaches Begin" which were popular ballads at
the time. While Presley claimed to have recorded
the demo as a birthday present for his mother this
is sometimes disputed since Gladys Presley's
birthday was in April and he recorded the acetate
in July.
Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and assistant
Marion Keisker heard the discs and called him in
June 1954 in music|1954 to fill in for a missing
ballad singer. Although that session was not
productive, Sam Phillips put Elvis together with
local musicians Scotty Moore and Bill Black to see
what might develop. During a rehearsal break on
July 5, 1954 Elvis began singing a blues song
written by Arthur Crudup called "That's All
Right". Philips liked the resulting record and
released it as a 78RPM single backed with Elvis'
hopped-up version of Bill Monroe's
Bluegrass_music|bluegrass song "Blue Moon Of
Kentucky." Memphis radio station WHBQ began airing
it two days later, the record became a local hit
and Elvis began a regular touring schedule which
expanded his fame beyond Tennessee.

Presley was booked on Nashville|Nashville's Grand
Ole Opry but in a bitter disappointment his
performance was not well received. He continued to
tour the U.S. South and on October 16, 1954 he
made his first appearance on Louisiana Hayride, a
radio broadcast of live country music in
Shreveport, Louisiana and was a hit with a large
audience accustomed to mostly pure country music
sounds. Following this Presley was signed to a
one-year contract for a weekly performance and he
was soon introduced to Colonel Tom Parker.

===Fame===
On August 15, 1955 Elvis Presley was signed by
Hank Snow Attractions, a management company
jointly owned by singer Hank Snow and Colonel
Parker, who negotitated Presley's signing with RCA
Records on November 21, 1955. On January 27, 1956
his sixth single and his first on RCA, "Heartbreak
Hotel" / "I Was the One", was released and made
the pop charts (it reached #1 in April). The next
day Presley's national television debut on The
Dorsey Brothers Stage Show marked the beginning of
his transition into a teen idol. On June 5, 1956
Presley scandalized the audience of the The Milton
Berle Showwith suggestive hip movements while
performing his second RCA single "Hound Dog."
Television critics across the country slammed the
performance for its "appalling lack of
musicality," "vulgarity" and "animalism." The
reaction was so severe, Presley was obliged to
explain himself on a local New York City TV show
(Hy Gardner Calling). Shortly thereafter he
appeared on The Steve Allen Show dressed in a
tuxedo, billed as "the new Elvis Presley" and
singing "Hound Dog" to a basset hound, an
experience Presley later said he found
humiliating. 

After a string of other TV appearances Presley
made his first performance on the top-rated The Ed
Sullivan Show|Ed Sullivan Show on September 9,
earning the broadcast a record 52–60 million
viewers (82.6% of the viewership that night). By
the time of his second Sullivan appearance on
October 28 Presley had dyed his sandy blond hair
jet black. Opposition gathered against him and
even more so against his gyrations on stage. The
December 1956 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine
described Presley as behaving like "a sex maniac
in public." On his third and final Sullivan
appearance (January 6, 1957) Sullivan bowed to
pressure from "moralists" and ordered that Presley
be televised from the waist up to avoid showing
his controversial hip movements. Meanwhile the
press had taken to calling him Elvis the Pelvis, a
nickname he is said to have thoroughly disliked.

"Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" topped the pop,
black and country charts in 1956 and many more hit
records followed. Over the next twenty-one years
(until his death in 1977) Elvis had 146 Hot 100
hits, 112 top 40 hits, 72 top 20 hits and 40 top
10 hits, an achievement that has never been
matched by any solo artist.

===Gospel roots===
Ironically, for all the controversy surrounding
his early career, Elvis Presley's roots in
religious music ran deep. In Tupelo, Mississippi
Vernon and Gladys Presley were what was
disparagingly referred to as poor white trash from
the "wrong side of the tracks" at the east end of
town. Their Great Depression|Depression-era home
(where Elvis was born in 1935) was a two-room
shack on one of several dirt tracks forming a
small community off Old Saltillo Road. They
belonged to a local Assembly of God
Pentecostalism|Pentecostal church which played an
important role in their lives. For Elvis Presley
it provided an environment from which he would
instinctively adopt the music, sound and
accompanying body movements in his later rock and
roll singing performances. The African American
music|African American form of music that became
known as Rhythm & Blues (which also evolved from
gospel music|gospel songs) was also a part of
Presley's childhood world and he probably heard it
on a regular basis in the Blacks|black section of
Tupelo known as "Shakerag" (which was between
Tupelo and East Tupelo, and was demolished in the
60's for urban renewal). The church is said to
have brought the Presleys, along with the rest of
its desperately poor congregation, a message of
hope wrapped around "fire and brimstone|Hell,
fire, and brimstone" sermons. For nearly a quarter
century the Pentecostal movement was interracial
and during the 1930s and 1940s many of these poor
churches did not adopt the growing policy of
racial segregation. 

Although Vernon Presley's family was Pentecostal
and his sister Nash Presley became a minister, his
wife Gladys was Elvis' devoutly religious parent.
Her uncle Gains Mansell was also a Pentecostal
preacher in East Tupelo whose interracial church
services began with revival meetings held in a
tent. Pentecostal church services started,
centered and ended with music and everyone was
encouraged to "make a joyous noise unto the Lord."
According to Presley biographer Peter Guralnick,
Gladys Presley said that by the age of two her son
was already trying to sing along in the church. A
Pentecostal preacher would typically lead the
congregation in prayer and both singing and prayer
were accompanied by the waving of hands, the
swaying of bodies and dancing about in the Holy
Spirit. As it almost always did in those settings,
"when the Spirit strikes" the body would jerk as
though hit by a bolt of lightning and frequently
the worshipper would fall to the floor, rolling
around and praying aloud (this is why outsiders
referred to church members as "Holy Rollers" and
their services as a "religious frenzy"). For
instrumentation, these church services used a
guitar, a tambourine or two and if they could
afford one, a well-worn piano and perhaps a used
accordion|piano accordion. Church services lasting
three hours and held several times a week were
filled with music as Pentecostals gyrated their
hips, shook their legs, clapped and waved their
arms while belting out pounding, rhythmic songs
such as Down By the Riverside, When The Saints Go
Marching In and Standing On The Promises. There
were also more serene songs sung with great
emotion like Old Rugged Cross and Softly and
Tenderly (Jesus is calling).

In 1948 the Presley family left Tupelo, moving 110
miles northwest to Memphis, Tennessee. Here too,
thirteen-year-old Elvis lived in the city's slums
and attended a Pentecostal church where he could
not have escaped the influence of the Memphis
blues. 

While Elvis Presley was a teen cataclysm with
millions of American girls screaming at the sight
of him, his own church viewed Presley's gyrations
on stage as an affront, labelling it the Devil's
work and a mocking of the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit. Presley records were condemned as
sin|wicked and Pentecostal preachers thumped their
pulpits with Bibles, warning congregations to keep
heathen rock and roll music out of their homes and
away from their children's ears (especially the
music of "that backslidden Pentecostal pup, Elvis
Presley"). People who decades later would be
considered part of the religious right spoke out
viciously against Presley including Francis
Cardinal Spellman|Cardinal Spellman. In its weekly
periodical, the Roman Catholic Church added to the
criticism in an article titled "Beware Elvis
Presley."

In August, 1956 in Jacksonville, Florida a local
Juvenile Court judge called Presley a "Barbarian
|savage" and threatened to arrest him if he shook
his body while performing at Jacksonville's
Florida Theatre, justifying the restrictions by
saying his music was undermining the youth of
America. Throughout the performance Presley stood
still as ordered but poked fun at the judge by
wiggling a finger. Similar attempts to stop his
"sinful gyrations" continued for more than a year
and included his often noted January 6, 1957
appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show when he was
seen only from the waist up.

His Hand In Mine (1960) was the title of Elvis'
first gospel album. During his Elvis Presley's '68
Comeback Special|'68 Comeback Special Elvis said
his music came from gospel. Despite his church's
attitude, gospel music was a prominent part of
Presley's repertoire throughout his life. From
1971 to his death in 1977 Presley employed the
Stamps Quartet, a gospel group, for his backup
vocals. He recorded several gospel albums, earning
three Grammy Awards for his gospel music. In his
later years Presley's live stage performances
almost always included a rendition of "How Great
Thou Art," the 19th century gospel song made
famous by George Beverly Shea. More than
forty-five years later (and twenty-four years
after his death) the Gospel Music Association
finally inducted him into their Gospel Music Hall
of Fame (2001).

===Military service===
On December 20, 1957, Presley received his
Conscription in the United States|draft notice for
the then compulsory 2-year service with the United
States Army. On March 24, 1958, he was inducted
into the  Army at the Memphis Draft Board. He
received no special treatment and was widely
praised for not doing what many wealthy and
influential people did to avoid service or to
serve part time in easy domestic positions such as
the Special Services where he could have sung and
continued to maintain a public profile. His
military service received massive media coverage
with much speculation whether or not two years out
of the limelight at the height of his popularity
would do irreparable damage to his career. Presley
sailed to Europe on the USS General George M.
Randall (AP-115)|USS General George M. Randall,
and served in Germany as an ordinary soldier. 

Elvis Presley returned to the United States on
March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged on
March 5th. While in the army, he received a black
belt (martial arts)|black belt in Kempo and
attained the rank of Sergeant.

===Comeback===

Many observers (including John Lennon) later
claimed that following Presley's return from
military service the quality of his recorded
output dropped, although others thought he was
still capable of creating records equal to his
best (and did so on the infrequent occasions where
he was presented with "decent" material at his
movie recording sessions). Presley himself became
deeply dissatisfied with the direction his career
would take over the ensing seven years, notably
the film contract with a demanding schedule that
eliminated creative recording and giving public
concerts. In 1960 the album Elvis is Back was
recorded. This, like his first two albums, Elvis
Presley and Elvis, are considered by many of his
fans to be his best work. With this drop-off, and
in the face of the social upheaval of the 1960s
and the British Invasion spearheaded by The
Beatles, Presley's star faded slightly before a
triumphant television special|televised
performance later dubbed the Elvis Presley's '68
Comeback Special|Comeback Special.  Aired on the
NBC network on December 3, 1968, the show saw him
return to his rock and roll roots.  His 1969
return to live performances, first in Las Vegas,
Nevada|Las Vegas and then across the country, was
noted for the constant stream of sold-out shows,
with many setting attendance records in the venues
where he performed.

==Movies==
In late 1955, Presley made his earliest known film
appearance in a documentary entitled The Pied
Piper of Cleveland, a look at the career of disk
jockey Bill Randle. The film, which reportedly
included performance footage of Elvis as well as
Bill Haley and His Comets and other acts, was
shown in its entirety only once (in Cleveland,
Ohio|Cleveland) and was never released
commercially. The film is currently considered
"misplaced" and some Presley researchers maintain
it never existed, although there is ample evidence
to suggest it did.
 
Beginning with Love Me Tender (movie)|Love Me
Tender (opened on November 15, 1956 in film|1956),
Presley starred in 31 motion pictures, having
signed to multiple long-term contracts on the
advice of his manager.  These were usually
musicals based around Presley performances, and
marked the beginning of his transition from
rebellious rock and roller to all-round family
entertainer. Elvis was praised by all his
directors, including the highly respected Michael
Curtiz, as unfailingly polite and extremely
hardworking.

The movies Jailhouse Rock (movie)|Jailhouse Rock
(1957), King Creole (1958), and Flaming Star
(1960) are widely regarded as his best among film
critics. Among fans, Blue Hawaii (1961) and Viva
Las Vegas (1964) are also highly praised.

In addition to his own films, Presley has been the
subject of more than seventy films that have his
name in the title.

For details on films in which he starred, see the
List of Elvis Presley films.

== Relationships == 

No entertainer has ever had their life and
intimate relationships examined in as much detail
as has Elvis Presley. Even the FBI had a file on
him of more than 600 pages. He has been the
subject of many books including two by his only
wife, Priscilla Presley|Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
(whom he married on May 1, 1967) and several
others by former girlfriends including June
Juanico. Since his death many claims to
relationships have been made by women who were no
more than acquaintances or  had short term affairs
which were exaggerated for personal gain.

===High school and early stardom===
According to interviews with teachers and former
fellow students at Milam Junior High school in
Tupelo, Mississippi, noted Presley biographer
Elaine Dundy in her book Elvis and Gladys wrote
(p.124) that beginning in his early teens, Elvis
embarked upon the "indefatigable pursuit of girls"
but was totally rebuffed and that this was
something that contributed to his lifelong need
for a beautiful woman to validate his feelings of
inadequacy. However, between 1954 and 1956 the
impoverished son of welfare recipients went from
being shunned and even mocked by some of the
popular girls at school to dating glamorous young
Hollywood starlets such as Natalie Wood and Connie
Stevens. Author Elaine Dundy wrote that actress
Shelley Winters (usually considered a reliable
source for Hollywood goings-on and who portrayed
Gladys Presley in the 1979 made-for-TV movie Elvis
(1979 television movie)|Elvis) claimed the
relationship between Presley and Natalie Wood
developed into something more serious than what
was generally reported in the media.


There were several significant relationships in
Presley's life other than his one marriage to
Priscilla Beaulieu. They included Dixie Locke, a
high school sweetheart who he met at his
Assemblies of God Pentecostal church and was part
of his life before and during his Sun Records
time. Locke was portrayed by actress Jennifer Rae
Westley in the 2005 CBS miniseries|TV miniseries
Elvis (2005 television miniseries)|Elvis. Anita
Wood, another wholesome Christian girl whom Gladys
Presley hoped he would eventually marry, was with
Elvis as he rose to superstardom, served in the US
military and returned home in 1960. Wood lived at
Graceland for a time but moved out after
confronting him over Priscilla Beaulieu, the "girl
in Germany." Although rarely giving public
statements, in 2005 Anita Wood was interviewd by
renowned television talk show host Larry King. She
told him that following media reports of a
girlfriend in Germany, Elvis "had me believing
that she (Priscilla Beaulieu) was just a friend
and her daddy was in the Army with him, and there
was nothing to it whatsoever." Presley used his
charm to persuade Anita to move back into
Graceland but she remained only a few months
before leaving permanently. Elvis immediately
began a short-lived affair with Anne Helm, his
co-star from the film Follow That Dream. Ms Helm
came to Graceland for a short time but her quick
exit allowed for the entrance of Priscilla
Beaulieu who moved to Memphis in 1962.

===Priscilla Beaulieu Presley===

In her 1985 book Elvis and Me, Priscilla Beaulieu
Presley described Elvis as a very passionate man
with a Pentecostal upbringing along with his
generation's double standard which cheered men for
sexual prowess with women but insisted a girl
should remain a virgin until married and if she
did not, she would be labeled a "slut." In her
autobiography, Elvis by the Presleys (2005),
Priscilla recounted how Elvis would stay up all
night and sleep most of the day. If he wanted to
go out, he'd rent out the venue so no fans would
bother him. This insistence on being a virgin
hallmarked each relationship Presley had with any
woman he thought of as a potential wife or someone
he was willing to live with. While demanding
purity and loyalty from them, Presley's ex-wife
and several girfriends confirmed he had numerous
affairs with other women he had no plans of
staying with. In his book Elvis: Unknown Stories
Behind the Legend author Jim Curtin wrote (p.119)
about the many women in Presley's life, saying
"his list of one-night stands would fill volumes."
Priscilla Beaulieu wrote that his philandering
made her "crazed with worry," particularly his
highly-publicized relationship with Ann-Margret,
which he tried to hide from her. Shortly after he
and Priscilla were married and she got pregnant,
Elvis became involved with Nancy Sinatra. When
questioned by his wife, Elvis denied any affair
but then out of the blue, Nancy Sinatra, who
barely knew Priscilla, called her and offered to
organise her baby shower. Shortly after this,
Elvis left his expecting wife in a state of shock
by asking for a trial separation.

===Later years===

Following his separation from Priscilla in late
February, 1972 the thirty-seven-year-old Elvis
Presley immediately became involved with a
twenty-one year beauty queen, Linda Thompson.
Before long, she moved into Graceland and lived
with him for nearly four and a half years. Presley
cheated on her repeatedly, notably with his backup
singer Kathy Westmoreland and actress Cybill
Shepherd who, along with Linda Thompson, was part
of a candid 2002 television interview marking the
25th anniversary of Presley's death on CNN|CNN's
Larry King Live. Cybill Shepherd spoke about her
relationship with Presley while he was performing
in Las Vegas, saying "years later, I would read
and find out that he had like two other women
there at the same time." As one of the two women
Shepherd was referring to, Linda Thompson told
Larry King she knew Presley had been cheating on
her but stayed with him anyway until it ended in
late 1976 when the forty-one-year-old Presley
began a relationship with seventeen-year-old
Ginger Alden.  Ms Alden moved into Graceland
shortly after turning eighteen. During the early
afternoon of August 16, 1977, Ms Alden woke up in
Presley's bed and found his lifeless body in the
bathroom suite.

On January 14, 2005, in another CNN interview,
King spoke with several close Presley associates
along with former girlfriends Anita Wood and
singer Kathy Westmoreland. Referring to his
previous interviews with Linda Thompson and Cybill
Shepherd, King said, "Elvis cheated on every woman
he was with. Both of the women we interviewed who
were with him talked disgusted, he had one woman
in one hotel and another one next door. And they
all loved him and they all understood."

===The "Memphis Mafia"===
Elvis reportedly spent substantial time (day and
night) with friends from the so-called Memphis
Mafia. Among them were Sonny West, Red West, Billy
Smith, Marty Lacker and Lamar Fike. Some sources
claim there was a code of silence within the group
during Elvis's lifetime but after his death some
Memphis Mafia members wrote books on his life.

===Was Elvis gay?===
Decades after his death, two published sources
claimed that Presley was involved in a
homosexuality|homosexual relationship with actor
Nick Adams. In Elvis: The Hollywood Years (2002),
author David Bret stated that Presley was gay.
Bret (who made a career on sensationalized claims
of homosexuality of deceased male celebrities)
said Colonel Tom Parker "held secret information
about a homosexuality|homosexual affair between
Elvis and actor Nick Adams over his head like a
sword. ...that is why Parker had so much control
over him." According to Bret, journalists'
attempts to "out" Elvis in the past were thwarted
by his manager.
 
In her unpublished but often cited manuscript book
The Intimate Life and Death of Elvis (and an
article in the National Enquirer) Elvis's
stepmother Dee Presley also claims Elvis had
sexual encounters with men and alleges an affair
with his friend Nick Adams.

However, David Bret has been widely criticised for
being careless and even inventive with basic facts
in his various books about celebrities and Dee
Presley has been criticized for having personal
and financial motives for her claims. Out of over
2,000 books published about Elvis Presley, these
two are the only known sources of these claims and
one of them is unpublished. Supporters of the
claims made by David Bret and Dee Presley note
that while most authors do describe Elvis as
heterosexual, they are writing in the context of a
worldwide Elvis industry which has a tendency
towards supporting only favorable views of the
singer.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/staff/lawdw/elvwall.pdf
Critics of this view note that it is contradicted
by the success of books by authors like Albert
Goldman and several members of the Memphis Maphia
which have been scathingly critical of Evlis'
lifestyle.

== 1969 onward ==

After seven years off the top of the charts,
Presley's song "Suspicious Minds" hit No. 1 on the
Billboard music charts on November 1, 1969 in
music|1969. This was the last time any song by
Presley hit #1 on the US pop charts while he was
still alive, although "Burning Love" got as high
as #2 in September 1972 in music|1972. He still
reached #1 on charts around the world. For
example, "The Wonder Of You" reached #1 in the UK
in 1970. The "Aloha from Hawaii" concert in
January 1973 is said to have been the most
successful of his career, was the first of its
kind to be broadcast worldwide via satellite and
his biggest audience ever.

Way Down was racing up the American Country Music
charts shortly before Presley's death in 1977, it
hit #1 on that very chart the week he died. It
also topped the UK pop charts at the same time.
Between 1969 and 1977 he gave over 1,000 sold-out
performances in Las Vegas and on tour. He was the
first artist to have four shows in a row sold to
capacity at New York's Madison Square Garden.
During the mid-1970s Elvis became increasingly
isolated, battling an addiction to prescription
drugs and its resulting toll on his appearance,
health and performances. Elvis made his last live
concert appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana at the
Market Square Arena on June 26, 1977.

===Death and burial===
Elvis died at his home Graceland in Memphis,
Tennessee on August 16 , 1977. He was found on the
floor of his bedroom's bathroom ensuite by
girlfriend Ginger Alden who had been asleep in his
bed. He was transported to Baptist Memorial
Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead at
3.30pm. He was 42 years old.


At a press conference following his death, the
medical examiners declared that he had died of a
heart attack. Heart disease was very prevalent in
his family, especially on his father's side.
Elvis' father Vernon also died of heart failure in
1979. In an interview for the BBC television
programme Hard Talk on July 312000, Sam Phillips
offered a slightly different explanation, based on
his thirty year friendship with the Presley
family.  He believed that the cause of Elvis'
death was due to kidney failure, saying that
members of the Presley family had a genetic
weakness in their kidneys. He cited similarities
between the deaths of Elvis and his mother Gladys.
 Phillips remarked that some six to eight weeks
before each of their deaths, they suddenly and
inexplicably became bloated, which he attributed
to a kidney problem. Gladys Presley, who was 47
years old at the time, was diagnosed to have died
of a heart attack brought on by hepatitis.  

Dr. Willis Madrey, who was responsible for
examining Elvis's liver two years before his
death, said
"I had understood he was having some
gastrointestinal problems his doctors were trying
to evaluate"
http://www.3ad.net/elvis/elvis_death.htm. He was
referring to Elvis's obesity and enlarged colon,
which progressively got worse over time, and very
likely led to severe constipation problems. There
is a wide belief amongst the general population
that these problems combined with a weak heart was
the true cause of his death.

Elvis' autopsy results will, however, not be in
the public domain until 50 years after the
singer's death, therefore it is hard to prove or
disprove that hypothesis. 

Presley was originally buried at Forest Hill
Cemetery in Memphis next to his mother. After an
attempted theft of his body, his and his mother's
remains were moved to Graceland.

===Lasting legacy===
By 1957 Elvis Presley was the most famous
entertainer in the world. After pioneer band
leader Bill Haley spawned interest in rock and
roll in western Europe, Presley triggered a wide
shift in tastes with effects lasting many decades.
Singers in dozens of countries made
Presley-influenced records in many languages and
his own records were sold around the globe, even
behind the former Iron Curtain. By 1958 Cliff
Richard was rising to prominence in the UK and in
France Johnny Hallyday became a rock and roll idol
singing in French, soon to be followed by others
like Claude François. Airplay and sales of
Presley recordings across Europe were followed by
those of other American rockers who began touring
there. Teenagers around the world copied his
"Ducktail" hair style.

and Elvis in a brief meeting in December, 1970
during which a reportedly prescription
drug-impaired Presley offered his assistance in a
national effort against drug abuse.
Following Presley's untimely death in 1977 US
President Jimmy Carter said:

Elvis Presley's death deprives our country of a
part of itself. He was unique and irreplaceable.
His music and his personality, fusing the styles
of white country and black rhythm and blues,
permanently changed the face of American popular
culture. His following was immense and he was a
symbol to people the world over, of the vitality,
rebelliousness, and good humor of his country.

Or as James Brown once put it, "He taught white
America to get down."

After his death a kitsch industry grew up around
his memory, chronicling his dietary and chemical
predilections along with the trappings of his wide
celebrity. Critics said this tended to obscure the
vibrant and vital music he made as a young man,
the vocally-influential recordings of his later
career and his lasting mark on popular culture.

Among his many accomplishments, Elvis Presley is
only one of two singers (Roy Orbison being the
other) to ever have two Top 5 albums on the charts
simultaneously. He has been inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame (1986), the Country Music
Hall of Fame (1998), and the Gospel Music Hall of
Fame (2001). In 1984 Presley was given the W.C.
Handy|W.C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation
in Memphis for "keeping the blues alive in his
music - rock and roll." In 1993, Presley's image
appeared on a List of people on stamps of the
United States|United States postage stamp.

Presley is generally remembered as the foremost
pop icon of the 20th century and his image
(especially the trademark forelock) is instantly
recognizable. He is said to be one of the most
photographed persons of all time and there is a
possibility his voice has been heard by more
people in more countries than any other in
history. Elvis is still the standard against which
modern notions of fame are measured.

===Elvis in the 21st century===

Interest in Presley's recordings returned during
the buildup to the Football World Cup 2002|2002
World Cup, when Nike, Inc.|Nike used a Junkie XL
remixed version of his "A Little Less
Conversation" (credited as Elvis Vs JXL) as the
background music to a series of TV commercials
featuring international football (soccer)|soccer
stars. The remix hit Number 1 in over 20
countries, including the United States, the United
Kingdom and Australia (it was also his first top
10 hit in the UK for nearly 22 years, and his
first #1 there for nearly 25 years). At about the
same time, a compilation of Presley's US Number 1
hits, Elv1s: 30|ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits, was being
prepared for release. "A Little Less Conversation"
(remix version) was quickly added as the album's
31st track just before its release in October
2002. Nearly 50 years after Presley made his first
hit record and 25 years after his death, ELV1S: 30
#1 Hits reached number 1 on the charts in the US,
the UK, Australia and many other countries. A
re-release from the album, "Burning Love" (not a
remix) also made the Australian top 40 later in
the year.

His renewed fame continued with another remix in
2003 (this time by Paul Oakenfold) of
"Rubberneckin'", which made the top 3 in Australia
and top 5 in the UK. This was followed by another
album called 2nd to None, a collection of his hits
that just missed out on the number 1 spot,
including the "Rubberneckin'" remix.

In mid-2004, to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of Presley's first professional recording, "That's
All Right", the recording in question was
re-released, and made the charts around the world,
including top 3 in the UK and top 40 in Australia.

In early 2005 in the United Kingdom, RCA began to
re-issue his 18 UK #1 singles as CD-singles in the
order they were originally released, one of them a
week. The first of these re-issues, "All Shook
Up", was ineligible due to its being sold together
with a collector's box which holds all 18 singles
in it (it actually sold enough to be #2). The
second of these re-releases, "Jailhouse Rock
(song)|Jailhouse Rock", was the number one in the
first chart of 2005, and "One Night"/"I Got
Stung", the third re-release in the series,
replaced it on the January 16 chart (and thus
becoming the 1000th UK number one entry). All of
these have reached top 5 in the official charts,
with three number 1s, eight number 2s, four number
3s, one number 4, and one number 5. These
re-releases have made Elvis the only artist so far
to spend at least 1000 weeks in the British top
40.

CBS recently aired a TV miniseries, "Elvis,"
starring Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the
legendary singer.

Presley was named one of the top 100 "Greatest
Americans," following a vote organized by
Discovery Channel. In the vote, Presley ranked
ahead of all entertainers and in 8th place behind
Presidents Reagan, Lincoln, Washington, Clinton,
and Bush, plus Martin Luther King and Benjamin
Franklin.

==Musical milestones==
During his lifetime, Elvis Presley:
*recorded 104 singles that hit the Top 40 of the
Billboard magazine|Billboard pop chart. 
*had 18 number 1 Billboard hits, including four
singles in 1956 that occupied the top of the
charts for a cumulative total of 25 weeks. The
total (18) is surpassed only by The Beatles, who
had 20 number 1 hits. His closest competitor is
Mariah Carey with a total of 16 number 1 hits.
*has spent a total of 79 Weeks at the number 1
position. His closest competitor is Mariah Carey
with 72 weeks.
*had 38 Top 10 Billboard hits. This total is
currently unchallenged; the closest competitor,
Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna, has 35. The Beatles
had 34 Top 10 hits during their career.

Until the record was broken by Boyz II Men's "End
of the Road" in November 1992, Elvis Presley's
double-side "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog" was the
undisputed champion of singles in terms of weeks
spent at number one. The record spent 11 weeks at
the top starting on August 18, 1956.

These are other records set by Presley's
recordings:

*From March 1956 to November 1959, every week
there was at least one Elvis song on the singles
chart.
*From 1956 to 1962, Elvis set the record with 24
consecutive top 5 hit singles (singles listed with
B-side songs and original U.S.A. release dates),
each of which sold in excess of one million
copies. Since 1962, the closest anyone has come to
matching this was Madonna in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, with 19 consecutive top 5 hits.

Also, on the official United Kingdom Top 40 chart,
"It's Now Or Never" reached number one in the week
of Sunday, January 30, 2005, 27 years after
Presley's death.

Elvis Presley has 116.5 million albums and
approximately 50 million singles certified by RIAA
in the United States, making his total US record
sales aproximately 167 million. His current record
company BMG estimates his world wide record sales
of about 500 million. Elvis Presley Enterprises's
(subsidiary of CKX, Inc.(NASDAQ: ndaq|CKXE)) web
site estimates that over one billion Elvis records
have been sold worldwide, more than anyone else in
the history of the record business.

Discography:
*For a detailed discography see: Elvis Presley
discography.
*For a list of Elvis' singles see: Elvis Presley
hit singles.
*For a list of all of his songs see: Alphabetical
list of all of Elvis Presley's songs.

==Trivia==
* His given middle name at birth was Aron
(http://www.elvis.com/elvisology/faq/faq.asp?qid=1
1), however Aaron was placed on his gravestone by
his father because Elvis preferred that
Bible|biblical spelling and planned on legally
changing it.

* A widespread urban legend relates that Elvis
died of constipation while using a toilet. While
his body was found in a bathroom suite at
Graceland by Ginger Alden, she has never said
anything to support the story and the autopsy
records reportedly won't be made public until
2027.

* According to another, more widespread urban
legend, Elvis did not die in 1977, and may be
alive today (see Elvis sightings).

* Elvis Presley made only one television
commercial, an ad for Southern Maid Doughnuts that
ran in 1954.

* His hair was a natural sandy blond but he dyed
it jet black shortly after he was signed to RCA
records (according to some accounts because he
admired singers like Mario Lanza and Dean Martin).

* Elvis Presley made famous a version of the
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich|peanut butter
sandwich with banana (either mashed or whole) that
was grilled or fried, and may have contained
bacon.

* Billboard magazine|Billboard's
Joel Whitburn declared Presley the "#1 act of the
Rock era", beating out The Beatles, based upon his
dominance of Billboard's list of
top 100 singles artists since 1955.

* Elvis Presley may have been partially Jewish
through his maternal great-great-grandmother.

* Elvis Costello borrowed Presley's first name to
help his fledgling career.

* Elvis is the richest deceased celebrity
(according to www.Forbes.com).

* He was proud of his role in King Creole because
the part was originally offered to James Dean (who
had died soon before production). Although songs
were slipped into the movie Elvis considered it
his best work.

*  Elvis's parents made cameos in some of his
films including Loving You.

==Quotes==

:Elvis was the only man from Northeast Mississippi
who could shake his hips and still be loved by
rednecks, cops, and hippies. 
::Jimmy Buffett

:When I first heard Elvis' voice, I just knew that
I wasn't going to work for anybody, and nobody was
going to be my boss.  He is the deity supreme of
rock and roll religion as it exists in today's
form.  Hearing him for the first time was like
busting out of jail. I thank God for Elvis
Presley.
::Bob Dylan

:Don't blame it on Elvis, for shakin' his pelvis
:Shakin' the pelvis been in style way back since
the River Nile
::Fabulous McClevertys|The Fabulous McClevertys,
calypso music|calypso singers, 1957

:Before Elvis, there was nothing.
::John Lennon

:Before Elvis, everything was in black and white.
Then came Elvis. Zoom, glorious Technicolor.
::Keith Richards

:If there was no Elvis Presley, there would have
been no Cliff Richard. I'm sure of that.
::Cliff Richard

:No one will ever touch Elvis.
::Garth Brooks

: Without Elvis, none of us could have made it 
:: Buddy Holly

: That Elvis, man, he is all there is. There ain't
no more. Everything starts and ends with him. He
wrote the book.
:: Bruce Springsteen

== Related topics ==
* Best selling music artists - World's top-selling
music artists chart.
* Elvis-A-Rama Museum
* Elvis and Me
* Elvis impersonators
* Elvis Presley's Sun recordings
* Elvis sightings
* List of songs about or referencing Elvis Presley
* Tagish Elvis Presley
* 24-Hour Church of Elvis

==Further reading==
*http://users.pandora.be/davidneale/elvis/books/
List of 378 books relating to Elvis Presley
*Authors of important works on Presley include
**Peter Guralnick — his books are considered
the definitive work on Presley
**Alanna Nash —  award winning book by the
Society of Professional Journalists' 1994 National
Member of the Year
**Albert Goldman —  reviled by fans for his
harsh criticisms of Presley
**Elaine Dundy  —  author of "Elvis and
Gladys," called "Nothing less than the best Elvis
book yet" by the Boston Globe and Kirkus Reviews,
"The most fine-grained Elvis bio ever."

==External links==


*http://www.elvis.com Elvis.Com - the site is
owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises, which is a
wholly owned subsidiary of CKX, Inc (NASDAQ:
ndaq|CKXE).
*imdb name|id=0000062|name=Elvis Presley
*http://apachelvis.tux.nu/ Elvis Fan Clubs
International
*http://www.petitiononline.com/041972/petition.htm
l Elvis On Tour