Elvis Presley was the King of Rock and Roll. His music was a real breakthrough in the music industry of his time. He was a great singer who truly loved what he was doing. The world of music wasn’t the only area where Presley achieved success. He was also a talented actor.
Here we gathered facts about the life of Elvis Presley that our readers may find to be interesting. Let’s see what these facts are…
Elvis Presley: 9 interesting facts about the King of Rock and Roll
1. Elvis Presley had great relationships with his parents
Elvis Presley was born in the family of Vernon and Gladys Presley in January 1935. Elvis had a twin brother who was born half an hour before his birth. Unfortunately, his brother was delivered stillborn.
Vernon Presley had no degree. Therefore, he took up any job he could find. Obviously, the family’s financial state was unstable. However, this didn’t have any effect on Elvis’ relationships with parents. He was quite close with his father and his mother, who was one of his biggest supporters, an interesting fact about Elvis Presley.
2. Elvis Presley wanted to change his name
The full name of Presley was Elvis Aron Presley. He liked the way the name Aaron sounds. He even planned to change his name officially.
3. When a child, Elvis Presley regularly attended church
Since the very childhood, Presley was put into the atmosphere where there were only 2 main things – religion and music. He regularly attended church services and was a member of the choir.
The radio he had at home was turned on almost 24 hours a day. Young Elvis listened to country and pop music. It is right to say that the atmosphere he grew up in served as an inspiration for his future career as a singer.
His first (unofficial) performance took place at one of the local fairs in Memphis. He even got a small award for the performance. After that, Gladys Presley decided to encourage her son’s interest in music. It was Gladys who bought Elvis his first guitar.
4. Elvis Presley never had any formal musical education
Elvis started playing and singing songs when he was studying at school. An interesting fact about Elvis Presley is that his classmates didn’t like his songs. Presley himself said that he wasn’t popular at school. Besides, he was too shy to perform in public. He often took his guitar with him to school. During the breaks, he sat playing the guitar, but he never sang.
He never had any formal music education. He learned to play by ear. After school, he worked as a garbageman and taxi driver. He took part in various contests the managers of which searched for young talents. However, he never got any contract. He was even said that he would never build a successful career as a singer.
5. Elvis Presley got his first contract by chance
When Elvis turned 18, he decided to make a special gift for his mother’s birthday. He paid $4 and recorded songs My Happiness and That’s When Your Heartaches Begin. He gave the EP to his mother as a present.
The EP was later sent to Sam Phillips, the owner of the Sun records studio. Having listened to Presley singing, Phillips realized that this was the guy he was searching for.
6. Elvis Presley served in the army
When Elvis turned 23, he was called up for military service in the US army. Many of his fans demanded the government to free Presley from the military service. However, this never happened. Presley served in the army for 2 years.
When his military service was coming to an end, he released an EP called “Elvis is Back”.
7. Elvis Presley was interested in cinema
Elvis Presley also managed to become a successful actor, a fun Elvis Presley fact. At the beginning of his career, he stated that he would take roles in films only if the screenplay was good.
His love for cinema was so big that he often rented cinema theatres just for himself. He came and watched different films all night long.
During his lifetime, Presley played roles in approximately 29 films. On average, the shooting process lasted not less than 5 weeks.
“King Creole” was his favorite film where he starred.
8. Elvis Presley had black karate belt
Karate was one more lifelong passion of Elvis Presley. He started to seriously study it in the army.
Later, the skill turned out to be a great advantage. He was given the role of the boxer in “Kid Galahad” film. He broke brick stones with his hand easily. He didn’t need any dubbing actors. Unfortunately, these episodes weren’t included in the final version of the film.
9. One of Elvis Presley’s concerts was broadcasted in 40 countries of the world
The concert took place in Honolulu, on the 14th January of 1973. It was the first concert to have been broadcasted all over the world, a fun fact about Elvis Presley.
The rehearsal took place on the same day. 6 thousand people came to listen to Elvis getting ready for the concert. Elvis asked to let the people in the concert hall. He was rehearsing in front of a very big audience.
Conclusion
Elvis Presley’s death was quite sudden. He died at the age of 42. It is presumed that the drugs he was taking regularly (prescribed for health reasons) were the reason for his death.
Presley is considered to be the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music. He played music of different genres including blues, gospel, pop and country. He changed the world of music forever and left a great legacy.
We hope that the facts we gathered about Elvis Presley helped you to learn more about him. If you are interested, visit the Historical People Facts Page!
