1 Chapter 0 Who Was Elvis Presley

Who Was Elvis Presley?

Who Was Elvis Presley? He was called "The King." That's because Elvis Presley ruled rock and roll. There were other singers in the 1950s. But nobody like Elvis. He looked different. He greased up his black hair and grew long sideburns. He wore whatever he wanted.

Even pink pants with black stripes looked cool on Elvis. And, boy, could he dance. Then there was the music. In the fifties, before Elvis, there was no rock and roll. There were two kinds of popular music. On the radio, white singers sang romantic songs or cute songs. A big hit in 1953 was "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" In small clubs, black singers were performing rhythm and blues, or R & B. It was loud, with a strong beat, and was easy to dance to. Back then, R & B wasn't played very much on radio stations — just because it was black music.

But Elvis listened to those black singers, mainly from records other kids had. And he loved that music. Rhythm and blues music helped make Elvis a big star. He sang R & B in his own special way. Girls screamed when he stood onstage and wiggled his hips. Boys tried to look like him. Parents were upset. They didn't like this new music. They thought Elvis was too wild. But there was no turning back. This was the start of rock and roll. And of all the rock stars to come, Elvis was always the biggest. He had one hit record after another. He sold out concerts. He became a movie star. And when he died more than

thirty years ago, Elvis left behind millions of fans who still miss him. Tours of his home, Graceland, are packed. GRACELAND Thousands of people show up in Memphis, Tennessee, to celebrate his birthday. They are also there to cry on the anniversary of the day he died. Elvis Presley is gone, but the King lives on.