Sun Records turned a Tupelo twin into rock's king
Elvis Presley, born 1935 in Tupelo and raised from thirteen in Memphis, cut his first sides at Sun with Sam Phillips. An estimated half-billion records sold, three Grammys, and a hip-shaking stage style made him the twentieth century's defining rock-and-roll icon.
Elvis Aaron Presley (8 January 1935–16 August 1977) blended influences into a sexually charged performance style that earned the tag King of Rock and Roll. Twin Jesse Garon was stillborn thirty-five minutes earlier. The family attended an Assembly of God church where Elvis first heard sacred music. After moving to Memphis in November 1948, he began at Sun Records in 1954 under Sam Phillips, who sought to bring African-American sounds to wider audiences; Scotty Moore and Bill Black framed the early trio.
Love Me Tender marked his November 1956 film debut. Drafted in 1958, he returned two years later to some of his biggest commercial records, then—under manager Colonel Tom Parker—spent much of the 1960s on Hollywood films and soundtracks with few concerts. He scored hits across pop and country markets, early rock and rockabilly, rhythm-and-blues flavors, adult-contemporary ballads, and gospel, winning three Grammys and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award among other honors.
School years show a shy kid who placed fifth singing Old Shep at a 1945 fair at age ten, later endured teasing as a "trashy" hillbilly guitar kid, and once answered a skeptical music teacher by singing Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me. Those Mississippi and Memphis scenes—radio, church, and Beale Street adjacency—fed the catalog that still sits among history's best-selling artist totals at an estimated five hundred million records.
Source: Elvis Presley
