Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley ([ˈɛlvɪs ˈpɹɛsli]), born January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, United States, and died August 16, 1977 in Memphis, Tennessee, was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed "The King of Rock and Roll" or simply "The King" due to his immense international success and his role in the global expansion of this musical style, he is one of the major cultural icons of the twentieth century.

Elvis Presley began his music career in 1954 at Sun Records, the record label of producer Sam Phillips. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, joined the following year by drummer D.J. Fontana, he helped popularize the emerging genre of rockabilly, an energetic blend of country music and rhythm and blues. On November 20, 1955, Sam Phillips announced Elvis's signing to RCA. Parker participated in negotiations between Sun Records and RCA on behalf of Hank Snow-Jamboree Attractions, with Bob Neal still serving as Elvis's personal agent at that time. He followed up with television appearances and hit singles. His singing talent and provocative gestures made him the spearhead of nascent rock and roll but also, in a predominantly Christian, conservative, and racially divided America, a subject of controversy.

Elvis made a screen test in Hollywood on May 26, 1956 at the request of producer Hal B. Wallis for a Paramount contract. Wallis wrote a custom script for Elvis, but it was with 20th Century Fox that the singer made his film debut with Love Me Tender released on November 16, 1956. He entered military service in 1958. He resumed his career in 1960 but devoted himself more to film than to performing over the next seven years.

In 1968, a television special directed by Steve Binder revived his music career. The following year, Elvis Presley performed on stage in Las Vegas, marking the beginning of lucrative tours and numerous concerts in Las Vegas, documented in the film Elvis: That's the Way it Is. In 1973, he gave the first concert broadcast worldwide by satellite, Aloha from Hawaii.

He died of a heart attack at his Memphis residence of Graceland in 1977, at the age of 42, just hours before the start of a planned tour.

Elvis Presley is one of the three best-selling musicians of all time, with estimates ranging from 233 million to 1 billion records sold. Among the most famous and influential musicians of the twentieth century, beyond rock and roll, he excelled in many genres including country, blues, pop, rock, and gospel.