"Elvis" redirects here. For other persons and things named Elvis, see Elvis (disambiguation).
Elvis Aaron Presley ( January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" was an American singer, song producer and actor.
Elvis remains a popular and enigmatic star and his legend has only grown stronger since his early death at age 42. During an active recording career that spanned more than two decades, Presley set and broke many records for both concert attendance and sales. Some of those records have since been matched and/or broken by other artists, but some of his records will probably remain unbroken and/or unmatched forever. He has had more than 120 singles in the US top 40, across various musical genres, with over 20 reaching number one. Elvis' ongoing worldwide popularity has culminated in his global sales reaching an estimated one billion records to date .
According to Rolling Stone magazine "it was Elvis who made rock 'n' roll the international language of pop." A PBS documentary once described Presley as "an American music giant of the 20th century who singlehandedly changed the course of music and culture in the mid-1950s." . His recordings, dance moves, attitude and clothing came to be seen as embodiments of rock and roll. His music was heavily influenced by other African-Americans who could not gain national attention because of their race. Presley sang both hard driving rockabilly and rock and roll dance songs and ballads, laying a commercial foundation upon which other rock and roll musicians would build. African-American performers like Little Richard and Chuck Berry came to national prominence after Presley's acceptance among mass audiences of white teenagers, even though his music was strongly influenced by some of those same African-American musicians. Singers like Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and others immediately followed in his wake, leading John Lennon to later observe, "Before Elvis, there was nothing."
