| Net Worth: | $ 300 Million |
|---|---|
| Source of Wealth: | Singer |
| Born: | January 8, 1935 |
| Died: | August 16, 1977 |
| Spouse: | Priscilla Beaulieu |
| Children: | 1 (Lisa Marie Presley) |
| Birth Name: | Elvis Aaron Presley |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.82m) |
Elvis Presley won three Grammy Awards and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Aside from his outstanding recording career, he’s taken multiple acting roles. Forbes ranked him as the top-earning deceased celebrity from 2000 to 2005 with a gross income of $45 million. In 2016, he was fourth with $35 million.
Early Life
The King was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. He went to East Tupelo Consolidated School in 1941 before joining a new school in his sixth grade. Presley’s family relocated to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948 where he then attended L.C. Humes High School. It was after finishing high school in 1953 that he decided to pursue his career in music.
Church music has been his inspiration since his family was religious. Presley received a guitar as a gift for his tenth birthday. His uncles taught him how to play and noticed how he loved to perform. Mississippi Slim (a country singer) inspired Presley and helped him refine his craft.
Elvis Presley Songs
Presley debuted his music career in 1954 with two hit singles under Sun Records. The success of his music led to him performing all over the US. He then signed with RСА Vісtоr and founded Elvis Presley Music and Gladys Music.
During his career, Presley sold hundreds of millions of records and earned around $1M per performance at the height of his popularity. Thirty-five of his singles and more than 20 of his albums ranked #1 on the Billboard charts.
In 1956, Presley released his first nationwide hit Heartbreak Hotel. Fans claimed that the song has life-changing effects. Next, Presley released his best-selling single, Hound Dog, which sold four million copies.
One of his most iconic moments on stage was during his performance of Hound Dog on The Milton Berle Show with his hips swinging. It was followed by the ballad Love Me Tender, which is the soundtrack of his first movie with the same name.
In 1957, The King released his first hit of the year entitled All Shook Up. The single’s beat is the sound of drumming on the back of a guitar. The single (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear is a certified 2x Multi-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It is one of his most commercially successful songs and is one of the soundtracks for his second movie, Loving You.
Presley released Stuck On You upon his return from the US Army in 1960. The single sold one million copies and ranked #1 on the Hot 100 for four weeks. He then recorded Return to Sender as a soundtrack for his movie Girls! Girls! Girls!. It stayed at #2 on the Hot 100 for 16 weeks. The melody for his song Its Over Now was borrowed from the Italian song O Sole Mio. It ranked #1 on the Hot 100 for five weeks.
Elvis Presley Can’t Help Falling In Love
Can't Help Falling in Love is part of his Blue Hawaii album released in 1961. The song’s melody was based on French love song Plaisir d’amour. It ranked #1 in the British charts in 1962 for four weeks and #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song remained #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks.
The song has been recorded by various artists including Bob Dylan, Tom Smothers, and UB40.
Elvis Presley Wife
After seven and a half years of dating, Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu on May 1, 1967. The pair met at Friedberg, Germany when he was serving in the US Army. They welcomed their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, on February 1, 1968.
The couple separated on February 23, 1972, allegedly due to extra-marital affairs. They filed a divorce on August 18 and took effect on October 9, 1973. The King did not recover from their split.
Elvis Presley Death
Presley’s health quickly deteriorated after his divorce. He became regularly taking drugs and had more difficulty performing on stage. He was hospitalized in a semi-comatose condition towards the end of 1973. The King had an issue of drug overuse and suffered from various serious ailments like glaucoma. On August 16, 1977 he has a severe heart attack and died.
Elvis Presley Daughter
Lisa Marie Presley is the King’s only daughter. She followed the path of her father in the music industry. To Whom It May Concern was her debut album that was released in 1993. It ranked #5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. On her 25th birthday, she inherited her father’s estate.
