"When I first appeared on stage, it terrified me to death. I didn't understand why everyone was screaming so much. I wasn't even aware that my body was moving; I was doing everything completely naturally, instinctively. So, I told the manager backstage, 'What did I do?' And he said, 'Whatever it was, do it again.'" Elvis Presley, about his first performance on July 30, 1954, at the Bon Air club in Memphis.

The life of Elvis Aaron Presley was the embodiment of the American dream. He was born on January 8, 1935, in the small town of Tupelo, Mississippi, to a poor family of a factory worker, Vernon, and a seamstress, Gladys Presley. He grew up as an only child; his twin brother, Jesse, died shortly after birth. None of his family members had musical talent. Elvis's talent began to emerge when his parents bought him a cheap guitar for his eleventh birthday, instead of an expensive bicycle that they couldn't afford. His uncle Vester taught him the basic chords, but otherwise, Elvis was self-taught, listening to blues and country music on the radio every day, which helped him develop his musical ear. In the fifth grade, he entered a school talent show and finished fifth. He also sang in the church choir.

In 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. At that time, music helped Elvis to integrate with his classmates. He liked gospel, blues, spirituals, rhythm and blues, and also country music. By combining these styles and having a "captivating voice of a white man singing like a black man," he created something that had not existed in popular music before.

In June 1953, he graduated from high school and started working as a truck driver for the Electric Co., where he also enrolled in evening school. He planned to become an electrician. In July, he recorded two songs, My Happiness and That's When Your Heartaches Begin, for four dollars at the Memphis Recording Service studio, and he gave the record to his mother, Gladys, for her birthday, to whom he had a very strong emotional bond. This decision changed his life.

The owner of the studio, Sam Phillips, noticed his talent and offered him a collaboration. So, Elvis returned to the studio and recorded a few more songs. However, it took almost a year for the hit that made him famous to be created – That's All Right Mama. After it was broadcast in July 1954 on the Memphis radio station WHBQ, a wave of enthusiastic reactions erupted; the song was played fourteen times that evening.

At that time, it was difficult to succeed with black music, but Elvis managed to do it. It is said that many listeners did not believe that a white man's voice was coming from the air, so Elvis had to say which high school he attended, which was clear evidence in the racially segregated South at the time.

Shortly after, he was approached by the controversial but capable manager, Tom Parker, with whom he moved to the major record company RCA Records. Elvis's single Heartbreak Hotel in 1955 topped the American hit charts and also reached the top of the British charts. Soon, more than a million records were sold.

A massive wave of success followed. Elvis became a legend. He recorded music, performed concerts, and constantly toured. He also appeared on the silver screen, starring in a total of 33 films, and sold over 130 million albums within a few years. During his 22-year career, over a billion recordings were sold. He became incredibly wealthy. In the summer of 1956, he earned approximately $40,000 per week. He bought a pink Cadillac for his mother and, a year later, at the age of 22, he purchased a house in the Memphis suburbs for $102,500 for himself, his parents, and his grandmother, Minnie, a residence known as Graceland. The house is now a national landmark and attracts over 500,000 visitors each year.

From January 1956, Elvis also appeared on television. Due to his popularity, he played a significant role in the national polio vaccination program during the epidemic. In October 1956, he performed on the famous Ed Sullivan Show, where he received a polio vaccine, which helped to convince teenagers to get vaccinated.

When he began performing live, he not only received enthusiastic support from female fans but also faced opposition from religious circles and many moralists. The charismatic young man, who attended church with his parents, transformed into an unrestrained force on stage. His extravagant clothing, his signature hairstyle with long sideburns, and his distinctive dance moves, where he provocatively swayed his hips, earned him the nickname Elvis The Pelvis or The Wiggling Hip... On television, the camera always only showed him from the waist up.

Elvis never learned to read music or write songs, but he played the guitar and the piano. Between 1956 and 1958, he starred in successful films such as Love Me Tender, Loving You, and Jailhouse Rock.

In December 1957, at the height of his fame, he received a draft notice for military service. Thanks to a delay negotiated by his manager, he was able to complete the film King Creole, and in March 1958, after completing basic training in Arkansas, he was transferred to Germany, where he served as a sergeant in Friedberg and Bad Nauheim.

In August 1958, his mother, Gladys, became ill with acute hepatitis and subsequently died of cardiac arrest. Elvis immediately flew home to be with her. After her death, he returned to Germany. While serving in the town of Bad Neuheim, he met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu in September 1959, the stepdaughter of an American Air Force captain who had been transferred there and was staying with her family in the house next door. Elvis did not live in the barracks but in a rented villa, where he also brought his father and grandmother. He was discharged from the army in March 1960.

Elvis and Priscilla then corresponded and spoke on the phone for two years, until the summer of 1962, when Priscilla's parents agreed to let her visit Elvis at Graceland. In mid-March 1963, two months before her eighteenth birthday, she moved permanently to Graceland. They married on May 1, 1967, in Las Vegas. Exactly nine months later, on February 1, 1968, their daughter, Lisa Marie, was born.

After returning from military service, Elvis resumed his music and film career. He was seen as a model soldier and patriot, which earned him respect from older, more conservative audiences and helped to soften the negative attitudes of some parents and teachers towards his music. His first concert took place at Bloch Arena on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1961. It was a charity event to raise funds for the USS Arizona Memorial, which commemorates the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. This was his last live performance for a long time; he didn't return to the stage until 1969.

In the 1960s, he focused almost exclusively on his film career, making films such as G.I. Blues, Blue Hawaii, and Viva Las Vegas, which were box office successes, but were not well-received by critics.

Elvis also began to decline in the music charts, further impacted by the rise of other singers and bands, such as Elton John, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin.

In December 1968, Elvis achieved phenomenal success with the television special Elvis: 68 Comeback Special, broadcast on NBC, where he performed his greatest hits in an iconic leather outfit and returned to his throne. He once again became a leading figure in world popular music and earned a concert tour of the United States and an engagement at the International Hotel (later the Hilton) in Las Vegas, where his concerts became a phenomenon.

In January 1973, his concert Aloha from Hawaii became a revolutionary musical event. It took place in Honolulu and was the first solo performance to be broadcast via satellite to the entire world.

Elvis's personal life was as dramatic as his career. His marriage to Priscilla ended in divorce in 1973. The reasons were Elvis's infidelities, his frequent absences from home, and, not least, Priscilla's relationship with karate instructor Michael Stone. Elvis had been involved in karate during his military service and earned a black belt, which he was proud of. Priscilla wanted to share her husband's interests, but karate ultimately drove them apart. However, they remained in contact for the sake of their young daughter, Lisa Marie, who visited her father at Graceland.

After the divorce, Elvis's girlfriend became actress and beauty queen Linda Thompson, who was replaced in 1976 by model Ginger Alden, whom he became engaged to.

Personal and health problems, which were exacerbated by a long-term dependence on prescription drugs (he used sleeping pills, painkillers, and stimulants to cope with his demanding lifestyle and concert tours), began to affect Elvis's career. He gained weight, his physical appearance deteriorated, and the quality of his performances declined, but he continued to perform and record songs.

Between 1969 and 1977, he performed nearly 1096 sold-out concerts. He was the first artist to sell out four consecutive performances at Madison Square Garden in New York. It was later recognized by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, and other artists that he was the world's number one in rock and pop music.

Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, at the young age of 42, at his Graceland estate in Memphis. He is buried there, along with his parents and grandmother. The cause of death was likely a drug overdose of amphetamines and barbiturates, but the official version states that the cause of death was a heart attack. The autopsy revealed that Elvis suffered from cardiovascular arrhythmias and hypertension. His mother also died of cardiac arrest, and in January 2023, his daughter, actress Lisa Marie, also passed away. After Presley's death, his estate, Graceland, became a museum and is now the second most visited house in the United States, after the White House. Every year, crowds of fans, Elvis impersonators, and look-alikes gather there. Many films and books have been made about his life. His songs are still being released, and some people still believe that he did not die and will one day return.

Wikipedia/ Facebook/ Gnews.cz – Jana Černá