Elvis Presley The King of Rock and Roll

 I was too young to get the full impact of Elvis Presley's early years but his performances came from a lot of different places.  He was only 42 years old at his death but he was instrumental in the development of rock and roll using country music, rhythm and blues and the popular music of the time and the media of TV and radio.

Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog and a lot of other songs made it to the top of the charts.  It is said that Elvis sold more records than any other performer, over 500,000,000 recordings.  He had a movie career with a string of popular movies that featured his singing and pretty girls in a wide variety of settings.

Drafted in 1958, the teen idol that spent time in the army in Germany serving his country, where it seemed his every move was written about.  You could be forgiven if you thought Bye Bye Birdie was an autobiography that became a movie 

The chart topper from 1956-1958, the movies from 1960-1968, and his comeback special in 1968 relaunched a series of live performances and recordings that were popular and that were international in scope.  He recorded "In the Ghetto", "Suspicious Minds", "Don't Cry Daddy", and "Kentucky Rain" at the American Sound Studio in Memphis and hits from 1968-1970.

These last four songs are from the "Elvis" I remember. 

 A high school classmate of mine at Fenton did an "Elvis" tribute show in the Chicagoland Area after graduation and the internet is full of folks that are doing the same thing.  Elvis's music will never die.  Graceland which opened for visitors in 1982 gets an estimated 500,000 visitors a year and you can spend some serious money touring the house and grounds.

If you are more famous after you die that may be a definition of being "famous".