Elvis Aaron Presley, also known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Known as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, brought both great success and initial controversy.
Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6-hectare) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents, paternal grandmother, grandson, and daughter.
Samuel Cornelius Phillips was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Howlin' Wolf. Phillips played a major role in the development of rock and roll during the 1950s, launching the career of Presley. In 1969, he sold Sun to Shelby Singleton.
Priscilla Ann Presley is an American businesswoman and actress. She is the ex-wife of the late American singer Elvis Presley, as well as the cofounder and former chairperson of Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), the company that turned Graceland into one of the top tourist attractions in the United States. In her acting career, Presley costarred with Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun film trilogy and played Jenna Wade on the long-running television series Dallas.
Thomas Andrew Parker, commonly known as Colonel Parker, was a Dutch-American musical entrepreneur. He was best known as the manager of Elvis Presley.
Elvis Meets Nixon is a 1997 Canadian-American mockumentary film directed by Allan Arkush and starring Rick Peters, Bob Gunton, and Alyson Court. It is an embellished account of the true story of American singer Elvis Presley meeting President Richard Nixon on December 21, 1970.
Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll is a 1985 memoir written by Priscilla Presley, with Sandra Harmon. In the book, Priscilla talks about meeting Elvis Presley, their marriage, and the factors and issues that led to the couple's divorce.
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business. Sun Studio is perhaps most famous for its role in the early years of Elvis Presley’s career.
Linda Diane Thompson is an American songwriter, former actress and beauty pageant winner.
The Memphis Mafia was the nickname given by the media to a group of Elvis Presley's friends, associates, employees and cousins whose main functions were to accompany, protect, and serve Presley from the beginning of his career in 1954 until his death in 1977. Several members filled practical roles; for instance, they were employed to work for Presley as bodyguards or on tour logistics and scheduling. In these cases Presley paid salaries, but most lived off fringe benefits such as gifts, cars, houses and bonuses. Over the years, the number of members grew and changed, but for the most part there was a core group who spent much time with Presley.
George Constantine Nichopoulos, also known as Dr. Nick, was an American physician of Greek descent. He was best known as Elvis Presley's personal physician and was controversial due to the singer's longstanding abuse of prescription drugs. Although Nichopoulos retained his medical license after Presley's death, the Tennessee Medical Board eventually permanently revoked Nichopoulos's license in light of his practice of overprescribing to many patients over multiple years.
Robert Gene "Red" West was an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter. He was known for being a close confidant and bodyguard for rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. Upon his firing, West co-wrote the controversial Elvis: What Happened?, in which he exposed the singer's dangerous drug dependence in an attempt to save him; the book was published just two weeks before Presley's August 1977 drug-related death.
Charles Franklin Hodge, better known as Charlie Hodge, was an American singer, vocal coach and musician who was a confidant and best friend of Elvis Presley, and lived at Graceland.
June Juanico is a woman from Biloxi, Mississippi, whom the famous rock 'n' roll singer Elvis Presley dated in 1955 and 1956, for instance, when he took three weeks of vacation after having recorded his songs "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" in the studio in New York City.
Elvis Presley had many close relationships throughout his career. The strongest of all his personal relationships, by far, was that he had with his mother Gladys, as described below.
"If Every Day Was Like Christmas" is a song written in 1965 by Red West and popularized by his friend and employer Elvis Presley in 1966 when he recorded and released it as a single. Presley released it again in 1970 on his Camden Elvis' Christmas Album.
American singer and actor Elvis Presley served in the United States Army from 1958 to 1960. At the time of his enlistment, he was widely regarded as the most well-known name in the world of entertainment.
Elvis is an American drama series about the early life of Elvis Presley that aired on ABC from February 6 until May 19, 1990 before its cancellation due to the high cost of each episode. These ten episodes, along with three unaired episodes, were edited into a four-hour mini-series titled Elvis: The Early Years. The series starred Michael St. Gerard as Presley, Jesse Dabson, Blake Gibbons, Millie Perkins, and Billy "Green" Bush. Elvis voice-impersonator Ronnie McDowell provided the singing voice for St. Gerard on the series.
"Separate Ways" is a 1972 song by Elvis Presley written by Red West and Richard Mainegra. Elvis Presley recorded the song on March 27, 1972, and released it as a single with "Always On My Mind" as the B-side. It reached gold status in the US for sales of over half a million copies. It was listed as a double sided hit reaching #16 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart in November 1972. In the UK "Always On My Mind" was the hit song and "Separate Ways" was the B-side.
Delbert Bryant West Jr., known professionally as Sonny West, was a friend and bodyguard of the singer Elvis Presley along with his cousin Red West for sixteen years, as part of the Elvis entourage at Elvis' Memphis home Graceland, which became known as "The Memphis Mafia".
