ELVIS FACTS

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi.

After graduation Elvis took a job at Parker Machinists Shop.

In 1953, he wandered into the Memphis Recording Service on his lunch hour to record two songs - "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin."

From his performance on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theatre, Elvis Presley got the nickname "Elvis the Pelvis".

Elvis Aaron Presley is the best selling solo artist In U.S. History and remained 80 weeks at the top of the charts, more weeks than any other artist.

Elvis Presley had ten consecutive #1 hits, the greatest number of back to back hits by any artist.

In total, Elvis Presley had 18 no. 1 hits, second only to the Beatles.

Elvis Presley has 55 Platinum albums, more than any other singer.

Elvis has 27 Platinum singles, 25 Multi-Platinum albums, 97 Gold albums and 24 Gold singles -
an unparalleled record till date.

In overall album sales, Elvis is second only to the Beatles. The Beatles sold 166.5 million while his albums sold 117.5 million.

Elvis first appeared on CBS' Dorsey Brothers Stage Show.

The song "Heartbreak Hotel" was Elvis' first Number 1 hit which he recorded in the February of 1956 for RCA.

On March 24, 1958, Elvis was inducted as US Army private and completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas on September 17, 1958

On 14th August 1958, Gladys Presley died of heart failure, aged forty-six, leaving her son Elvis Presley in a distraught state.

Presley made his big-screen debut with the musical western, "Love Me Tender" which was panned by the critics but struck gold at the box office.

Change of Habit (1969) was the singer's final movie role.

On August 27, 1965, Elvis had the historic meeting with members of the Beatles, which lasted about four hours.

Elvis and Priscilla met in 1959 at a party in Bad Nauheim, Germany during his stay in the army.

On May 1, 1967 Elvis and Priscilla married at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas.

Their only child, Lisa Marie, was born on February 1, 1968.

On October 9, 1973, Elvis and Priscilla divorced, agreeing to share custody of their daughter.

Elvis won three competitive "Grammies" for his gospel recordings: "How Great Thou Art"—the album, as well as the single—and for the album He Touched Me (1972).

In all, he recieved fourteen Grammy nominations during his career.

On August 16, 1977, Elvis died in Memphis.

The conventional image of Elvis, the musical icon of America, may be of a glitzy, swashbuckling king of rock n' roll.

But behind all these lied a loving and generous soul, which, despite his name, fame and riches, was desperately seeking for the spiritual truth... to know his fate and to know what was lying beyond all this material abundance.

Elvis's health was reported to have weakened by years of drug abuse and other excesses.

Elvis Aaron Presley mirrors "the landscape of America, the erotic spontaneity of Scots-Irish settlers and the facial lines of Indian warriors; the dignity and dissolution of the ante-bellum South, as well as the theme of 'love of family and its abandonment'."

And, this is what the genealogy of Elvis Presley reflects.

But what ailed Elvis?

Even though he got them all of what a worldly man can vie for. And what led him to feel abandoned and take recourse to excesses, which in turn led him to oblivion?

The reason perhaps lies in his off-the-stage personal life - his family, his upbringing and his celebrity lifestyle. Elvis was quite a mixture. This can be attributed to his lineage. His was the perfect blend of French Norman blood with the Scots-Irish blood. The aura of mystery draped around him was probably due to the embedded Indian strain.


Meanwhile, the Jewish strain supplied him the spectacular showmanship. Finally add all these to his circumstances, social conditioning, a couple of years stint in army, and religious upbringing--specifically his Southern poor white, First Assembly of God upbringing...
And you're home! For, you have solved the enigma that was Elvis.

Every life has its peaks and troughs. Elvis's was no exception as well. Unfortunately, Elvis could not recover himself from the trough he had fallen in. He just let himself drop till he kissed death. And this is where the tragedy of Elvis lies.

It all started with the divorce from his wife, Priscilla, in 1973. It was when the singer's career started to go downhill. He turned out to be over-worrying lot - always fretting about his personal image and the fear of being crest-fallen.

He started dieting and took to pills to lose weight. Bad habits that he had developed early in his career were difficult to change. Staying up all night and sleeping all day gave his life no real pattern or structure. Now, added worries and agonies worsened it further. He had even took the drugs that his health refused. The overdose of medications, and especially lethal combination of drugs he would take ruined his life.

Yet always a great soul

However, despite all his inner torments, Elvis had never fallen short of his usual show in any of his public appearances.


As a man Elvis was quite different. A sensitive soul with a room to think about others.

Elvis was generous from deep inside. His keenness in making charity and getting involved in community works shows the greatness of the legendary entertainer as a great human. Each year, Elvis used to give $1,000 or more to each of fifty Memphis-area charities.

This apart he also continually made many other charitable donations in Memphis and around the country. Himself Elvis was a cheer leader in various philanthropic activities.


He had taken part in many fund raising benefit concerts. And set it as a trend. Not just these, throughout his adult life, for friends, for family, and for total strangers, he quietly paid hospital bills, bought homes, supported families, paid off debts, and much more.

Elvis was religious. He pursued religion not just as a set of rituals but as a philosophy of life.


His interest in the 'riddle of post mortal life' took him to studying metaphysics and oriental religions.

Apart from his pure love for music Elvis was also a bibliophile. He had always been candid, warm and interactive with his friends and admirers. Those who had the opportunity to come closer to him was mesmerized by his humanist persona. He had always liked to treat everybody he met, whoever they were.


Elvis had a remarkable sense of humor. It stuck in everybody's mind. He liked to laugh and make others laugh, too. He never let people worry about his worries.

Naturally, people could hardly predict such a cheerful man had suffered so silently within.

There is no doubt that all these traits has made Elvis a legend that still has it magnetic charm. May be this explains why Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home and refuge for twenty years, is one of the most visited homes in America.

Even these days it attracts over 600,000 visitors annually.


It is also the most famous home in America after the White House. In 1991, Grace land Mansion was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Well, be there if you can to see it yourself. But despite being so popular an image he had not lost his homely spirit off the stage. He was amicable and congenial in his private life.


Do you like to rediscover Elvis in one his off-the-stage homely mood? Here is an adoption from the columns of John Lennon of the Beatles fame, depicting the historic rendezvous with Elvis Presley.

This, indeed, gives a ringside glimpse of Elvis-the-man.