Elvis Presley made his 1st TV appearance
On this day in 1955 Elvis Presley made his first television appearance.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in Mississippi. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, so Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948.
In 1954, Elvis began his singing career with the Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation.
Elvis Presley's debut album cover
Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations, of which he won three and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award that he received at age 36.
Early in his career, the audience response at Presley’s live shows often became frenzied. Scotty Moore said, “He’d start out, ‘You ain’t nothin’ but a Hound Dog,’ and they’d just go to pieces. They’d always react the same way. There’d be a riot every time.”
On March 24 1958, Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army as a private at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, he then commenced basic training at Fort Hood, Texas. After training, Presley joined the 3rd Armored Division in Friedberg, Germany, on October 1 of the same year. Between his induction and discharge, Presley had ten top 40 hits, due to unreleased material being issued by his record label.
Presley returned to the United States on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. The train that carried him from New Jersey to Tennessee was mobbed all the way, and Presley was called upon to appear at scheduled stops to please his fans.
While serving in Friedberg, Germany, Presley met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu. They would eventually marry after a seven-and-a-half-year courtship. Elvis and Priscilla met during a party at Elvis’ home in Bad Nauheim, Germany during his stay in the army.
After Elvis left Germany and return to America in 1960, the couple stayed in contact over the phone, until she came to visit and eventually came to live with him in America.
They married on May 1, 1967 at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The wedding, arranged by Parker to maximize publicity, featured very few guests and was over in only eight minutes
Presley’s only child, Lisa Marie, was born on February 1, 1968, during a period when he had grown deeply unhappy with his career. Of the eight Presley singles released between January 1967 and May 1968, only two charted in the top 40, and none higher than number 28.
The Presleys separated on February 23, 1972, after Priscilla disclosed her relationship with Mike Stone, a karate instructor Presley had recommended to her. Presley’s divorce took effect on October 9, 1973.
Twice during that year he overdosed, spending three days in a coma in his hotel suite after the first incident. Toward the end of 1973, he was hospitalized, semi-comatose from the effects of Demerol addiction.
Presley was scheduled to fly out of Memphis on the evening of August 16, 1977, to begin another tour. That afternoon, he was discovered unresponsive on his bathroom floor. Attempts to revive him failed, and death was officially pronounced at 3:30 pm at Baptist Memorial Hospital
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