Elvis Presley

Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1935, Presley moved to Memphis at 13 and walked into Sun Records in 1954, where producer Sam Phillips heard the white kid who could channel the sound of African-American music he'd been trying to bring to mass audiences. With Scotty Moore and Bill Black, Presley pioneered rockabilly - that uptempo blend of country and rhythm and blues - and after RCA Victor bought his contract in 1955, "Heartbreak Hotel" hit number one and sold ten million singles within a year. His television appearances and performing style made him both the face of rock and roll and a perceived moral threat to white youth. Drafted in 1958, he returned two years later and spent most of the 1960s making Hollywood films - Jailhouse Rock, Blue Hawaii, Viva Las Vegas - that were commercially successful but critically dismissed. A 1968 NBC comeback special revived his live career, leading to a Las Vegas residency and the 1973 Aloha from Hawaii broadcast, the first solo concert seen worldwide. Years of substance abuse and unhealthy eating caught up with him, and he died at Graceland in August 1977 at 42, leaving an estimated 500 million records sold and a hole in American cul