Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. After the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, Presley began his music career. Between 1954 and 1955, Presley recorded 15 songs for Sam Phillips, president of Sun Records. Colonel Tom Parker then became Presley’s manager and moved him to RCA Records in 1956. During this time period, Presley dominated the music charts with songs such as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “Hound Dog.” Presley had 14 consecutive records sell over one million copies each. Presley also appeared in movies like Love Me Tender and on television shows, including The Ed Sullivan Show. Presley’s suggestive dancing on the show was such that he was shown only from the waist up. In 1958 Presley joined the army and served for two years. He returned to music and movies and was the highest paid performer until the Beatles passed him in the mid-1960s. In 1977 Presley died of a drug-related heart failure in Graceland, his Memphis home. After his death, Graceland became a well-visited shrine to a singer known as the King.
