Elvis Presley Biography

Fast Facts

• Had an identical twin, Jesse, who was stillborn
• Worked as a truck driver after high school, making $35 a week
• Spent $4 to make an amateur recording at Sun Studios in 1953 as a belated birthday present for his mother
• Sun's secretary later played the songs for Sam Phillips, who signed Elvis to a contract in 1954
• Contract was sold to RCA Victor in 1955
• His first RCA hit, "Heartbreak Hotel," shot to No
• 1 on the charts and stayed there for eight weeks
• Popularly known as one of the pioneers of rockabilly, an up-tempo style of music blending country and blues
• Was drafted into the U
• S
• Army in 1958 and served for two years; earned the rank of sergeant
• Posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986
• Holds Billboard records for most Top 40 hits and most cumulative weeks at No
• 1