What an outrageous question! Who doesn't know Elvis Presley? Well, many of us don't. I was one of those ignoramuses, that is, until recently. I first heard of Elvis Presley from one of my friends, an ardent fan of Presley.

"There is an Elvis Presley concert tonight," he said enthusiastically, "Are you coming?"

My innocent response scandalized him. "Who is Elvis Presley?"

"You mean you don't know Elvis," he said, shocked.

"No," I said, and as a word of explanation, added, "Well, I don't have much time for music. And even if I do, I go in for eastern music; western is just too noisy for me."

Well, a couple of years later, I was in need for music. A company that had hired me as a writer was making me do some boring copy/paste work, and I needed some music to cheer me up as I worked. One of the links I stumbled across provided a ton of free music. The name of Elvis Presley was already familiar to me, and this led me to download one of his songs, "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear". I don't think it is one of his more popular songs, but it was an instant hit with me. Wow, this was not ‘noise'; this was amazing, simply super; the greatest music I had ever heard.

I must confess I fell head over heels in love with Elvis after listening to "A Little Less Conversation". When I saw his pictures on the Internet, I began believing that Elvis was the most handsome man who had ever lived on this earth. It is a real pity that he died young on August 16, 1977, the year in which I was born.

I confess that my knowledge of western music is disgraceful. All that I know of Elvis Presley is what the various Web sites say about him. It seems he grew up listening to pop and country music, gospel music, and black R&B and was greatly influenced by these genres. His own style, which he developed later, was a fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong beat. He used his own version of existing songs, which became extremely popular and was also in the habit of mixing black and white sounds.

He was born on January 8, 1935 in Mississippi. By 1956, he was an international sensation. More than a billion of his records have been sold globally. His American sales alone have earned him gold, platinum, or muti-platinum awards for 150 different albums and singles. He has starred in 33 films, appeared on television, and given many record-breaking concerts on tour and in Las Vegas.

Elvis Presley's Honors

• 14 Grammy nominations with three wins from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
• The Grammy Lifetime Achievement, which he received at age 36
• One of Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970, according to the United States Jaycees (1971)
• The titles "The King of Rock ‘n' Roll" or "The King"
• The only performer to have been inducted into four music Halls of Fame: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986), the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (1997), the Country Music Hall of Fame(1998), and the Gospel of Music Hall of Fame (2001)
• W.C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation (1984)
• First Golden Hat Award from the Academy of Country Music (1984)
• American Music Awards' first posthumous presentation of the Award of Merit (1987)
• Named by Forbes Magazine (2005) as the top-earning deceased celebrity, grossing USD 45 million for the Presley estate in 2004

In addition to this, the City of Memphis has named part of Highway 51 South "Elvis Presley Boulevard".

The Official Site of the King of Rock and Roll

The Original Unofficial Elvis Homepage

Elvis Presley: Jailhouse Rock (Music Video)

Learn More about Presley

The Life of Presley with pictures

The Rock Hall

The Internet Movie Database

Elvis Presley Posters and Downloads

Yahoo

Artistdirect

Musicmp3

Elvisfind

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