Elvis Presley

The King of Rock and Roll

Presley became the leading figure of rock and roll through television appearances and chart-topping records, though his style was considered a threat to the moral well-being of white American youth.^[1] On January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Gladys and Vernon Presley welcomed their son Elvis Aaron Presley; the family relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 13 years old.^[1][2]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Born

8 January 1935

Birthplace

Tupelo, Mississippi, US

Died

16 August 1977

Place of death

Memphis, Tennessee, US

Relatives

Riley Keough (granddaughter)
Brandon Presley (second cousin)
Harold Ray Presley (first cousin once removed)

Burial place

Graceland, Memphis

Other names

Elvis, The King of Rock and Roll

Occupation

Singer
actor
soldier

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Vernon Presley was sentenced to eight months in jail in 1938 for check alteration, which caused the family to lose their home.^[3] For his birthday, Presley got his first guitar and learned to play it from two uncles and a church pastor.^[4] Released in January 1956, Presley's debut RCA Victor single "Heartbreak Hotel" quickly rose to number one on the charts.^[1] The double-sided single of "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" stayed at number one on the charts for eleven weeks.^[5]

What the cited sources add

Critic Robert Hilburn described Presley's cover of "Blue Suede Shoes" as "an improvement over Perkins' in almost every way"^[6] Cultural historian Gilbert B. Rodman argued that Presley's album cover image played a crucial role in positioning the guitar as the instrument that best captured rock and roll.^[6]

References

Wikipedia, "Elvis Presley" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Billboard writer Arnold Shaw, cited in .; Brown Broeske 1997, p. 55 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Elvis Presley" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eames 2022a; Eames 2022b; Earl 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Elvis Presley" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Guralnick 1994, p. 13 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Elvis Presley" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Guralnick 1994, p. 13; Guralnick 1994, p. 13; Guralnick 1994, p. 13; Dundy 2004, p. 101 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Elvis Presley" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Guralnick Jorgensen 1999, p. 45; Whitburn 1993, p. 5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Elvis Presley" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hilburn 2005; Stanley Coffey 1998, p. 28–29; Rodman 1996, p. 28 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Elvis Presley (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.