Elvis Presley Gossip

Commonly referred to as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", Elvis Aaron Presley was born in 1935 in Tupelo Mississippi. He also had a twin brother, Garon, who died at birth. Although he is commonly viewed as an icon of American culture, Presley appears to have had a somewhat lonely childhood, where he was often viewed as an outsider.

Presley originally paid to record a double-sided album as a birthday present for his mother in 1953, choosing "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartache Begins" for the songs that would be on the record. He returned the next year to record another demo album when Sun Records' founder Sam Phillips heard what Presley had recorded and had him record the already popular songs "That's All Right" by Arthur Crudup and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Bill Monroe. The songs became a local hit when played on the WHBQ radio station in Memphis. At first only the black radio stations would play his music, but eventually white radio stations gave into the demands of their young listeners and began playing Presley's music as well.

In 1955 RCA Victor bought out Presley's recording contract from Sun Studios after Presley signed on with the management company "Hank Snow Attractions". It was while with this management company that Presley would meet "Colonel" Tom Parker, an ambitious man and avid promoter who would shape Presley's career.

Presley would continue to record throughout the fifties and sixties, rising to epic proportions of stardom that the American public had never seen the likes of. Even though he was a superstar in his own right, he did not try to get out of military service when he was drafted in 1957. But, it was while he was stationed in Germany that he met his future wife, Priscilla Beaulieu, who was only fourteen at the time. He returned home in 1960, and quickly resumed his career. He also began starring in several motion pictures such as Blue Hawaii and Paradise, Hawaiian Style.

Elvis married Priscilla in 1967 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They welcomed their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley on February 1st, 1968 in Memphis. However, the couple later split in 1972. During this time in his life Elvis was frequently performing at packed houses in Las Vegas as well as releasing several albums such as Good Times in 1974 and Promised Land in 1975. Promised Land was released on his fortieth birthday and sold over one million copies across the globe. However, Elvis' lifestyle had begun to catch up with him and he was increasingly becoming overweight, the stress of back-to-back tours and album releases wearing on the icon.

Elvis passed away on August 16th, 1977 at his Graceland mansion. His cause of death was related to a cardiac arrhythmia due to an overdose of drugs.