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Elvis Aron Presley was born to Gladys and Vernon Presley in a two-room cabin on North Saltillo Road in East Tupelo, Mississippi.
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Presley received his first guitar as a gift from his mother on his 11th birthday in 1946 and had his first taste of musical success a few years later when he won a talent show at Humes High School in Memphis.
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Elvis Presley - My Happiness Elvis Presley, then earning his keep as a truck driver, drops by the Memphis Recording Service, home of Sun Records. He privately records two songs ("My Happiness"/"That’s When Your Heartaches Begin") for the sum of $4, leaving with a ten-inch acetate. Office manager Marion Keisker jots a note for owner Sam Phillips.
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Rock and roll history is made when Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black spontaneously perform bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Cruddup’s “That’s All Right” in romping, uptempo style. The next day, bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky” is given a similarly playful treatment.
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Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on network TV as a guest on Stage Show, hosted by jazz bandleaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Throughout 1956, Presley’s biggest year, he will also appear on The Milton Berle Show, The Steve Allen Show and The Ed Sullivan Show.
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Elvis Presley’s debut single for RCA, “Heartbreak Hotel,” is released. The first of Presley’s 17 Number One hits, it holds down the top spot for eight weeks. “Heartbreak Hotel” establishes Elvis Presley and rock and roll itself as national phenomena.
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It is probably overstating the case to suggest that Heartbreak Hotel made Elvis Presley a star. With wildly popular stage shows, network TV appearances, and the resources of RCA Victor solidly behind him, he probably was destined for stardom even if his first recording on his new label had flopped. Heartbreak Hotel’s phenomenal achievement merely accelerated his ascendancy to fame. It made him appear an overnight success, when, in fact, fame came only after two years of working tiring one-nighte
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The film ‘Love Me Tender,’ which features Elvis Presley in the first of 31 Hollywood movie roles, premiered at the New York Paramount. Two months earlier, on September 9th, he performed the title song on the Ed Sullivan Show to a record viewing audience estimated at 54 million.
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Elvis Presley was served with his draft notice while home at Graceland during the Christmas holidays. He was sworn in as a private in the U.S. Army on March 24, 1958, and later sent to basic training in Fort Hood, Texas. He was shipped to Germany, he served in Company D, 32nd Tank Battalion, 3rd Armor Corps, from October 1, 1958, to March 1, 1960.
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Elvis guest-stars on a Frank Sinatra-hosted TV special, Welcome Home Elvis, and cuts his first post-Army recordings in Nashville. They yield the hit album Elvis Is Back and such million-selling singles as “It’s Now or Never” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight.
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Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu, who was met eight and a half years earlier during his tour of duty in Germany, at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. Their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, is born exactly nine months later, on February 1, 1968.
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The hour-long special Elvis, sponsored by Singer Sewing Machines, airs on NBC-TV. Clad in black leather, Elvis successfully pulls off the greatest comeback in rock and roll history. After his decade-long stint as a movie star, he re-establishes himself as a musical performer and cultural totem on this electrifying, widely viewed special.
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Elvis and Priscilla Presley divorced in Santa Monica, California.
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An unconscious Elvis Presley was rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital around 3 p.m. Despite efforts to revive him, Presley is subsequently pronounced dead. At a press conference that evening, medical examiner Dr. Jerry Francisco indicates that the cause of death appeared to be “cardiac arrhythmia,” noting that, “There was severe cardiovascular disease present.
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Elvis Presley was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the first induction dinner. Julian and Sean Lennon are his presenters.
