Elvis Aron
Presley
(January 8, 1935 – August
16, 1977; he officially changed his middle name
on his birth certificate from
Aaron
to Aron. See video)
Elvis Aaron Presley was born at approximately 12.20 PM in East Tupelo, Mississippi. His twin brother Jesse Garon was sadly stillborn. Elvis is an American singer, musician and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly referred to by his first name and as the "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" or just simply "The King".
Elvis with his mother Gladys Smith and father Vernon Presley.
In 1954, Presley begins his career as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an up-tempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong back beat. His novel versions of existing songs, mixing "black" and "white" sounds, make him popular—and controversial—as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. He recorded songs in the rock and roll genre, with tracks like "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock" later embodying the style. Presley has a versatile voice and had unusually wide success encompassing other genres, including gospel, blues, ballads and pop. To date, he has been inducted into four music halls of fame.
In the 1960s, Presley makes the majority of his thirty-one movies—mainly poorly reviewed, but financially successful musicals. In 1968, he returned with acclaim to live music in a television special and thereafter performed across the U.S., notably in Las Vegas. Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is one of the best-selling and most influential artists in the history of popular music. Health problems, drug dependency and other factors led to his premature death at the age of 42.
For those who loved him to bits, he is still ALIVE! Facts about Elvis.
The vocal range of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley - Is it Aron or Aaron?
(extract from
The Fifties
Web)
Both and neither!
Elvis' middle name was to honor his father's
friend, Aaron Kennedy. But the Presley's (Vernon
and Gladys) chose the spelling
Aron. His
stillborn twin brother Jesse was named to honor
Vernon's father, Jessie Presley, but again with
a slightly different spelling.
In his later years, Elvis wanted to change the
spelling of his middle name to the more biblical
Aaron. He was surprised to find that unlike his
birth records, the official state records
already had it as Aaron.
Knowing Elvis' preference for Aaron, that is the
name his father ordered to be placed on Elvis'
tombstone. And it is the officially recognized
spelling by the Presley estate today.
It is unclear why the marker at Graceland for
Elvis' brother is spelled Jessie. The baby was
buried in an unmarked grave in Tupelo because
the family was poor. Today the Presley estate
uses Jessie as the official spelling.
Facts and dates about Elvis (extract from The Fifties Web and Don's Elvis Page)
Ellvis
Presley is the best
selling solo artist In USA history
Elvis charted
more songs
on Billboard's Hot 100 than any other
artist. (149)
Elvis spent
more weeks at
the top of the charts than any other
artist. (80)
Elvis had the
greatest
number of consecutive #1 hits. (10)
Elvis is
second only to
the Beatles in total of #1 hits. (18)
Elvis was a
black belt in
karate.
Elvis received his first guitar on his 11th birthday in 1946 - it cost $12.75.
Elvis made his first demo record at the Memphis Recording Service, Tennessee at 706 Union Avenue in the summer of 1953 . He played guitar and sang "My happiness" and "That's when your heartaches begin".
On July 19, 1954 the Legend began! Elvis, Scotty Moore (guitar) and Bill Black (bass) recorded "That's all right" for Sun Records.
On November 2, 1955 "Mystery Train" reached #1 in the country charts!
On January 21 1956 the first picture of Elvis was seen in the UK, in the "Record Mirror".
Elvis's first motion-picture "Love Me Tender" was released in the US on November 16, 1956.
Elvis received his draft papers for the US Army on December 20, 1958.
On March 24, 1958 at 6.30 AM, Elvis arrived at the Local Board 86 in Memphis and began his army life as private US 53310761.
Elvis was discharged from the US Army on March 5, 1960.
"Are you lonesome tonight" was released on January 19, 1961 and stayed at #1 for 4 weeks.
Elvis married Priscilla Beaulieu at the Alldin Hotel in Las Vegas on May 1, 1965.
Lisa Marie Presley was born on Feb 1, 1968.
The American Junior Chamber of Commerce presented an award to Elvis for being one of the "10 Outstanding Young Men of America" in January 9, 1971.
October 9, 1973 was t and Don's he date Elvis and Priscilla were divorced.
Elvis last single "Way Down" was released in August 10, 1977.
Elvis Presley -
His Last Concert... from
YouTube by
anabernardino watched over 1.3 million times.
Elvis passed away at his Graceland mansion on
August 16, 1977.
Is Elvis still alive? from YouTube by
In
his last year Elvis did 150 concerts.
The only non-US concert Elvis did was in Vancouver, Canada.
The only European country Elvis visited (except on military service) was France. He stayed in the fabulous George V hotel in Paris.
According to the RIAA:
Elvis is #2 for overall
album sales (117.5 million) - (The
Beatles sold 166.5 million; Led Zepplin, 106
million)
Elvis has the most Multi-Plaintum
albums (25) - (The Beatles have 24; Led
Zepplin and Barbra Streisand have 13)
Elvis has more Platinum
albums than any other artist (55) - (The
Beatles have 37; Barbra Streisand has 30)
Elvis has the most
Plaintum singles (27)
Elvis has more Gold albums
than any other artist (97) - (Barbra Streisand
has 51; The Beatles have 42)
Elvis has the most Gold
singles (24)
No wonder they call him
The KING.
