 1935 - 1977 (42 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has more than 100 ancestors and one descendant in this family tree.
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| Name |
Elvis Aaron Presley |
| Birth |
8 Jan 1935 |
Tupelo, Lee, Mississippi, United States  |
| Gender |
Male |
| FamilySearch ID |
L64M-357 |
| Death |
16 Aug 1977 |
Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States |
| Burial |
18 Aug 1977 |
Graceland Mansion Estates, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I98983 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Vernon Elvis Presley, b. 10 Apr 1916, Fulton, Itawamba, Mississippi, United States d. 26 Jun 1979, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States (Age 63 years) |
| Mother |
Gladys Love Smith, b. 25 Apr 1912, Pontotoc, Pontotoc, Mississippi, United States d. 14 Aug 1958, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States (Age 46 years) |
| Marriage |
17 Jun 1933 |
Mississippi, United States |
| Family ID |
F31308 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - 8 Jan 1935 - Tupelo, Lee, Mississippi, United States |
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 | Death - 16 Aug 1977 - Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States |
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 | Burial - 18 Aug 1977 - Graceland Mansion Estates, Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States |
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| Notes |
- He was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most signifi c ant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as th e "K ing of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".
Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tenne s see, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began t he re in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who w ant ed to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience . Acco mpanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presle y was a p ioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of cou ntry musi c and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined t o complet e the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquir ed his con tract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would mana ge the sing er for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "He artbreak Hot el", was released in January 1956 and became a number one hi t in the Unit ed States. With a series of successful network television a ppearances an d chart-topping records, he became the leading figure of th e newly popula r sound of rock and roll. His energized interpretations o f songs and sexu ally provocative performance style, combined with a sing ularly potent mi x of influences across color lines during a transformati ve era in race re lations, made him enormously popular—and controversial.
In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Draft e d into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording care e r two years later with some of his most commercially successful work . H e held few concerts however, and guided by Parker, Preceded to devot e muc h of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and soundtrack albums, mo st o f them critically derided. In 1968, following a seven-year break fro m liv e performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed televisio n come back special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert res idenc y and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave th e firs t concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloh a from H awaii. Years of prescription drug abuse severely compromised hi s health , and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate, just 4 2 years o f age.
Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 2 0 th century. Commercially successful in many genres, including pop, coun tr y, blues, and gospel, he is the best-selling solo artist in the histor y o f recorded music. He won three competitive Grammys, received the Gram my L ifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into mult ipl e music halls of fame.
Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gl a dys Love Presley (née Smith) in the two-room shotgun house built by hi s f ather, Vernon Elvis Presley, in preparation for the birth. Jesse Garo n Pr esley, his identical twin brother, was delivered 35 minutes before h im, s tillborn. Presley became close to both parents and formed an especi ally c lose bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of Go d church , where he found his initial musical inspiration.
Presley's ancestry was primarily a Western European mix: On his mother ' s side he was Scots-Irish, with some French Norman. Gladys and the res t o f the family apparently believed that her great-great-grandmother, Mo rnin g Dove White, was Cherokee; the biography by Elaine Dundy supports t he id ea, but at least one genealogy researcher has contested it on multi ple gr ounds. Vernon's forebears were of German or Scottish origin. Glady s was r egarded by relatives and friends as the dominant member of the sm all fami ly. Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, evincing little a mbition . The family often relied on help from neighbors and government f ood assi stance. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found gui lty of al tering a check written by his landowner and sometime employer . He was jai led for eight months, and Gladys and Elvis moved in with rel atives.
In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidat e d, where his instructors regarded him as "average". He was encourage d t o enter a singing contest after impressing his schoolteacher with a r endi tion of Red Foley's country song "Old Shep" during morning prayers . The c ontest, held at the Mississippi–Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on Oc tober 3 , 1945, was his first public performance. Ten-year-old Presley wa s dresse d as a cowboy; he stood on a chair to reach the microphone and s ang "Ol d Shep". He recalled placing fifth. A few months later, Presley r eceive d his first guitar for his birthday; he had hoped for something el se—by d ifferent accounts, either a bicycle or a rifle. Over the followin g year , he received basic guitar lessons from two of his uncles and th e new pas tor at the family's church. Presley recalled, "I took the guita r, and I w atched people, and I learned to play a little bit. But I woul d never sin g in public. I was very shy about it."
In September 1946, Presley entered a new school, Milam, for sixth grad e ; he was regarded as a loner. The following year, he began bringing hi s g uitar to school on a daily basis. He played and sang during lunchtime , an d was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music. B y then , the family was living in a largely African American neighborhood . Presl ey was a devotee of Mississippi Slim's show on the Tupelo radio s tation W ELO. He was described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger b rother, w ho was one of Presley's classmates and often took him into th e station. S lim supplemented Presley's guitar tuition by demonstrating c hord techniqu es. When his protégé was 12 years old, Slim scheduled him f or two on-ai r performances. Presley was overcome by stage fright the fir st time, bu t succeeded in performing the following week.
In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. After residi n g for nearly a year in rooming houses, they were granted a two-bedroo m ap artment in the public housing complex known as the Lauderdale Courts . Enr olled at L. C. Humes High School, Presley received only a C in musi c in e ighth grade. When his music teacher told him he had no aptitude fo r singi ng, he brought in his guitar the next day and sang a recent hit , "Keep Th em Cold Icy Fingers Off Me", in an effort to prove otherwise . A classmat e later recalled that the teacher "agreed that Elvis was rig ht when he sa id that she didn't appreciate his kind of singing". He wa s usually too sh y to perform openly, and was occasionally bullied by cla ssmates who viewe d him as a "mama's boy". In 1950, he began practicing g uitar regularly un der the tutelage of Jesse Lee Denson, a neighbor two-a nd-a-half years hi s senior. They and three other boys—including two futu re rockabilly pione ers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette—formed a loo se musical collectiv e that played frequently around the Courts. That Sep tember, he began ushe ring at Loew's State Theater. Other jobs followed : Precision Tool, Loew' s again, and MARL Metal Products.
n August 1953, Presley walked into the offices of Sun Records. He aime d t o pay for a few minutes of studio time to record a two-sided acetat e disc : "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". He woul d late r claim that he intended the record as a gift for his mother, or t hat h e was merely interested in what he "sounded like", although there w as a m uch cheaper, amateur record-making service at a nearby general sto re. Bio grapher Peter Guralnick argues that he chose Sun in the hope of b eing dis covered. Asked by receptionist Marion Keisker what kind of singe r he was , Presley responded, "I sing all kinds." When she pressed him o n who he s ounded like, he repeatedly answered, "I don't sound like nobod y." After h e recorded, Sun boss Sam Phillips asked Keisker to note dow n the young ma n's name, which she did along with her own commentary: "Go od ballad singe r. Hold."
Presley, wearing a tight black leather jacket with Napoleonic standing c o llar, black leather wristbands, and black leather pants, holds a microp ho ne with a long cord. His hair, which looks black as well, falls acros s hi s forehead. In front of him is an empty microphone stand. Behind, be ginni ng below stage level and rising up, audience members watch him. A y oung w oman with long black hair in the front row gazes up ecstatically.
Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, was born on February 1, 1968, duri n g a period when he had grown deeply unhappy with his career. Of the eig h t Presley singles released between January 1967 and May 1968, only tw o ch arted in the top 40, and none higher than number 28. His forthcomin g soun dtrack album, Speedway, would die at number 82 on the Billboard ch art. Pa rker had already shifted his plans to television, where Presley h ad not a ppeared since the Sinatra Timex show in 1960. He maneuvered a de al with N BC that committed the network to both finance a theatrical feat ure and br oadcast a Christmas special.
Presley and his wife, meanwhile, had become increasingly distant, bare l y cohabiting. In 1971, an affair he had with Joyce Bova resulted—unbekn ow nst to him—in her pregnancy and an abortion. He often raised the possi bil ity of her moving into Graceland, saying that he was likely to leav e Pris cilla. The Presleys separated on February 23, 1972, after Priscill a discl osed her relationship with Mike Stone, a karate instructor Presle y had re commended to her. Presley and his wife filed for divorce on Augu st 18th f inalized on October 9, 1973. Twice during the year he overdose d on barbit urates, spending three days in a coma in his hotel suite afte r the firs t incident. Toward the end of 1973, he was hospitalized, semic omatose fro m the effects of pethidine addiction. death was pronounced a t 3:30 p.m. d eath was officially pronounced at 3:30 p.m. at Baptist Memo rial Hospita l August 16, 1977.
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