Elvis Presley

One of the most important figures in 20th century music was Elvis Presley. His rise from rags to riches on his hips has joined the other great tails of American folklore.

Elvis was born in 1935 in a small Mississippi house. At the age of 13 Elvis, along with his family, moved to Memphis where he was exposed to the sounds of gospel and blues music.

In 1953 Elvis paid $8.25 to record his first two songs, which he later gave as a gift to his mother. In 1956 Elvis made his now infamous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. It was here his hip gyrations were not shown on television and only his head was in the picture.

Shortly after, Elvis inked a movie deal with MGM studios. Elvis career was put on hold in 1957 when he was drafted into the Army. He spent three years working for the Special Services and rose to the level of sergeant. When he got back from his tour, Elvis focused on movies.

Elvis made 31 movies in the 1960’s most of the teen-musical variety; however none of his movies were critical successes. In 1968 he had a television special in which he presented himself as a musical for the first time in nearly a decade. The special would later be called ’68 Comeback Special. Elvis topped the charts for the next few years moving his act to Las Vegas.

After his divorce in 1973, Elvis began to become noticeably overweight or “Fat-Elvis.” On August 16, 1977 Elvis was found dead on the floor of his Graceland’s mansion bathroom. To this day many questions still surround his death. Was it a drug overdoes? Did he really die?