Elvis Presley was the first real Rock & Roll star.  A white southerner singing the blues laced with country and country tinged with gospel, he brought together American music from both sides of the color line and performed it with a natural hip-swiveling sexuality that made him a teen idol and a role model for generations of cool rebels.  He was repeatedly dismissed as vulgar, incompetent and a bad influence, but the force of his music and his image was no mere merchandising feat.  Presley signaled to mainstream culture that it was time to let go.

He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards for 111 different albums and singles, far more than any other artist or group. Among his many awards and accolades were the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at age 36, from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and his being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army.
His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important cultural figures of the twentieth century. Elvis died at his beloved Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.

April 25, 1912

Gladys Love Smith is born.

April 10, 1916

Vernon Elvis Presley is born.

June, 1933

Gladys Smith and Vernon Presley are married.

January 8, 1935

In Tupelo, Mississippi, shortly before dawn, in a two-room house built by her husband and her brother-in-law, Gladys Presley gives birth to identical twin sons. The first, Jesse Garon, is born dead, a tragedy that partly contributed to the maternal solicitude dominating his childhood and teenage years. The second, Elvis Aaron, is born alive and healthy. Elvis would be their only child.

1935 - 1948

Elvis grows up within a close-knit, working class family, consisting of his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who all live near each other in Tupelo. There is little money, but Vernon and Gladys do their best to provide for their son, who is the center of their lives. They move from one house to another in Tupelo, and even live in Biloxi, Mississippi for a short while, returning to Tupelo. Elvis attends the Assembly of God Church with his family, and the music and preaching register deeply. Other influences are black bluesmen in the neighborhood and country music radio programs enjoyed by his family.
1945


Ten-year-old Elvis stands on a chair at a microphone and sings "Old Shep" (Red Foley's) in a youth talent contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, held in Tupelo. The talent show is broadcast over WELO Radio. Second prize is $5.00 and free admission to all the rides at the fair.

1946

Elvis's parents cannot afford a bicycle that Elvis wants, so Gladys talks him into accepting a guitar instead. Elvis's first guitar costs $12.95 and is purchased at the Tupelo Hardware Company. The bicycle would have to wait until Christmas of 1947.

In 1948, his family moved to Memphis, and while attending L.C. Humes High School there, Presley spent much of his spare time hanging around the black section of town, especially on Beale Street, where bluesmen like Furry Lewis and B.B. King performed.

Late 1948

Elvis plays his guitar and sings "Leaf on a Tree" for his Milam Junior High class in Tupelo as a farewell. Elvis and his parents pack their belongings in a trunk strapped to the roof of their 1939 Plymouth and move to Memphis, Tennessee in search of a better life economically. Other members of the Presley and Smith clan would follow.

1948-1953

Elvis and his parents live in public housing or low rent homes in the poor neighborhoods of north Memphis. Life continues to be hard. Vernon and Gladys go from job to job, and Elvis attends The Christine School, then Humes High School. Elvis works at various jobs to help support himself and his parents. The Presley-Smith clan remains close-knit, and Elvis and his family attend the Assembly of God Church. The teenage Elvis continues to be known for singing with his guitar. He buys his clothes on Beale Street and he absorbs the black blues and gospel he hears there. He's also a regular audience member at the all-night white, and black, gospel sings that are held downtown. He wears his hair long (compared to the day's standards) and slick, and lets his sideburns grow. He's really different from the other kids, a good-natured misfit.
While at Humes High, Elvis nervously sings with his guitar at a student talent show. Much to his own amazement, he gets more applause than anyone else and wins, then performs an encore. The acceptance feels good.

June 3, 1953


Elvis graduates from Humes High School.

1953

Elvis works at Parker Machinists Shop right after graduation. In spite of his rebel posturing, Presley remained studiously polite to his elders and was devoted to his mother. Indeed, it was his filial affection that first prompted him to visit The Memphis Recording Service, home of the Sun label, whose studios offered the sophisticated equivalent of a fairground recording booth service. As a birthday present to his mother, Gladys, Presley cut a version of the Ink Spots''My Happiness', backed with the Raskin/Brown/Fisher standard 'That's When Your Heartaches Begin'for a cost of about $4.00.. The studio owner isn't in, so his assistant, Marion Keisker handles the session. Marion Keisker, noted Presley's unusual but distinctive vocal style and informed Sun's owner/producer Sam Phillips of his potential. Elvis wants to see what his voice would sound like on a record and he has vague aspirations to be a singer. He takes the acetate home, and reportedly gives it to his mother as a much-belated extra birthday present. By the fall, he is working at Precision Tool Company, and soon changes jobs again, going to work for Crown Electric Company. At Crown, he does various jobs, including driving a delivery truck. He also goes to night school and studies to be an electrician. He planned to become a truck driver and had begun to wear his long hair pompadoured, the current truck-driver style.

Presley was reportedly curious to know what he sounded like and gravely disappointed by what he heard.