Elvis Presley, later nicknamed “The King”, was born in the small town of East Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 5, 1935. Presley’s mother, Gladys Presley, worked as a sewing-machine operator, and his father, Vernon Presley, worked as a truck driver. Presley’s twin brother, Jesse Garon, was stillborn, leaving Presley to grow up as an only child (Simon, and Schuster). At a young age, Elvis started to grow a strong interest in music. He always enjoyed singing in church, and at the age of ten he won the second place prize at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Diary Show. While he grew up in poverty due to his father’s incapability to keep a job following his arrest for writing bad checks, Elvis was still able to find joy in the little things, like …show more content…
In 1956, he met at the recording studio in Nashville to record the first songs for his new label, including “I Got a Woman,” “I Was the One,” and “Heartbreak Hotel,” which became his first number one hit. His name and music grew like a wildfire after this. Throughout his career, Presley starred in thirty three films, sold over one billion records, won three grammys, and had eighteen number one singles (Elvis Presley Biography). Elvis Presley was the most successful and influential artist and inspired many until his death on August 16, 1977 (About Elvis …show more content…
Only a couple of years after his career as a musician took off, he entered into the United States army. While in the army Presley was still able to perform at several different bases, but nothing to the full extent as his previous performances. After being discharged from the army, Elvis tried to let things go back to the way they were before, but he was out of the majority of the public eye for so long that it was difficult. Elvis was never able to return to his old self after leaving the army, which I believe is very understandable. Not only was he changed immensely in that amount of time, but so did the outside world and society as a