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Elvis Aron Presley
was born January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi. His parents were
Vernon Presley and Gladys Smith Presley. Elvis' twin brother, Jesse Garon,
was stillborn.
Elvis' own life had hung in the balance for several hours
after his birth. Elvis' early musical
experiences came from church and
the radio. At the age of 13, Elvis and his parents moved t
o Memphis,
Tennessee. Elvis attended Humes High School in Memphis, where he was
teased
and made fun of for the clothes he wore and the way he wore his
hair. Elvis later performed
in a variety show at his high school, and the
kids loved him. Elvis went on to work for Crown
Electric driving a truck. It was while Elvis was working for Crown that he stopped in at Sun
Records on the pretext of making a record for his mother. In all honesty, Elvis was hoping to
meet the man who ran Sun Records, Sam Phillips;
however, Sam wasn't in so Elvis recorded
his two songs for Sam's
assistant. She knew immediately that Sam needed to hear Elvis.
Well
folks, the rest is history! Elvis Presley was on his way to stardom!
During his musical
career, Elvis recorded such hits as "Love Me Tender",
"Teddy Bear", "Jailhouse Rock",
"Hound Dog", "Too
Much", "Return to Sender", "Don't Be Cruel",
"Heartbreak Hotel",
"Blue Suede Shows", and the
list goes on and on! Elvis also had a successful movie career,
as well,
with movies such as "King Creole", "Love Me Tender", "Jailhouse Rock",
Loving You",
and many more. After Elvis had finished "Love Me Tender" in
1957, he bought himself and
his parents a new home, Graceland. Graceland
was one of the most famous local homes in
Memphis, with its traditional
Southern beauty. Elvis loved his home, but he didn't get to
enjoy it long
for the next year "Uncle Sam" came calling. Elvis was inducted into the
Army
on March 24, 1958. That same year Elvis experienced the most
traumatic moment of his life,
the loss of his mother. Gladys Presley died
on August 14, 1958. A few weeks after his
mother's death, Elvis was
assigned by the Army to duty in Germany. There he met his future
wife, Priscilla Beaulieu. After his Army career, Elvis returned to the United
States and
began making more movies, and he had joined the league of such
Vegas stars as Sammy Davis,
Jr. and Frank Sinatra. Elvis' style of music
was also changing; it was now more subdued.
During the 60's, Elvis was
said to have become elusive. Some called him a hermit saying that
he only
went from the set to home and from home to the set. What they weren't
aware of
was that Elvis hadn't forgotten about his love in Germany.
Through an agreement reached by
both Elvis and Priscilla's father, Priscilla, now only 15-years old was allowed to come and
live at
Graceland. She was to finish out her high school education there in
Memphis, and
then she and Elvis would be allowed to be married when
Priscilla turned 17 or 18. So
it was on May 1, 1967 at the Aladdin Hotel
in Las Vegas that Elvis married his teenage
sweetheart, Priscilla
Beaulieu. And...only nine months after their wedding date, Priscilla
Presley gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Lisa Marie
Presley,
on February 1, 1968. Marriage and fatherhood had brought Elvis back to
life. In
1968, Elvis performed in front of a live audience for the first
time in eight years. This
would come to be known as his '68 Comeback
Special. Elvis began touring again and enjoyed
annual engagements in Las
Vegas. Priscilla; however, never accompanied Elvis on his tours or
in
Vegas. While Elvis complained of Priscilla's extravagance, Priscilla
complained of
loneliness. Marriage was a disappointment to both Elvis and
Priscilla and so it was that they
divorced. The last two years of Elvis' life were both tragic and lonely. Elvis had begun to
put on quite a bit
of weight, his concerts had become half-hearted; according to the media,
and his memory had begun to fail him, along with his health. And...so it
was that the King of
Rock 'n Roll, Elvis Aron Presley, died on August 16,
1977. His death was blamed on drug
abuse, and it was suggested that
perhaps an overdose had killed Elvis, yet the only drugs
found in his body
were prescribed medications, taken for hypertension and blockage of the
colon. It was determined that Elvis had died from a heart attack. On
August 18, 1977, flags
flew at half-mast at Graceland. Radio stations
stopped their scheduled programs and played
only Elvis' records. A long
line of white Cadillacs carried Elvis and his friends to the Forest
Hills
mausoleum, where he was buried next to his mother. Such stars as
John Wayne, Ann
Margaret, George Hamilton, and
James Brown attended Elvis' funeral. Over 20,000 fans
passed
by Graceland while others had to be turned away at
the gates. Elvis Presley sold
over
one billion records worldwide. He had no less than 149 songs to
appear on Billboard's Hot
100 Pop Chart; of these, 114 were in the top 40;
18 went to number one. His three network
specials stand among the highest rated broadcasts of all time. Elvis starred in thirty-one
feature films. He received fourteen Grammy nominations. Elvis'
life was more though than
just numbers in a chart. He was a great
influence on young and old alike. Today, Elvis'
music has reached a
new generation, our children. Those of us who were born in the 50's
and 60's, who grew up on Elvis Presley, our children are
now adoring, loyal fans of Elvis.
The day Elvis died, a legend was
born! Long live the legend...
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