Elvis Timeline

TIMELINE WRITTEN/RESEARCHED BY FALI R. SINGARA

1935- Elvis Aaron Presley is born on the 8th of January to farm worker Vernon Presley and his wife Gladys in a two-roomed wooden shack in Old Saltillo Road, East Tupelo, Mississippi. His twin brother Jesse Garon (born 35 minutes before Elvis) dies at birth. Elvis’s mother learns that she can never have any more children. Elvis’s middle name is taken from his father Vernon’s friend Aaron Kennedy.

1938- Hard times take their toll on the Presley family, and Elvis’s father Vernon is sentenced to three years in prison for forgery. Elvis is taken care off by his mother.

1940- Elvis, now at the age of five begins his education at the East Tupelo Consolidated School. His singing voice makes an impact on one of his teachers, Mrs. Grimes.

1945- His fifth grade teacher Mrs. Grimes recommends Presley’s singing to principal Mr. J.D. Cole, who enters him in the music contest at the 38th Annual Mississippi – Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in Tupelo. Elvis, aged 10, sings country classic “Old Shep” and wins second prize. This is his first known public performance.

1946- Elvis is given a guitar by his parents for his birthday, and learns how to play it with the help of his father Vernon and uncle Johnny Smith. He really wanted a bicycle but the family is too poor to afford it.

1949- Having moved with his parents to Memphis, TN, in September 1948, to a one- bedroom apartment at 572 Poplar Ave., where his father finds a job at the United Paint Company and his mother, Gladys, works at a hospital as a nurse’s aide, Presley attends High School by day, moving lawns and working as a cinema usher in his off school time, earning a measly $14 a week. Presley, naturally shy, has few friends at school and does not shine academically. Most kids stay away from him, thinking him a “weird” kid. Elvis’s refusal to accept the crew cut conformity of the day - grows his hair long, which leads to kids bullying him. To make matters worse, his high school music teacher Miss Marmann fails Presley in her music class and tells him that he can’t sing. Due to the racial tensions of that time, parents ban their children from listening to the black musicians of the day like B.B King and Ray Charles on the radio. Elvis listens to those artists and is heavily influenced by the Gospel music and the rhythm and blues of the black man.

1952- Following a month’s employment at the Precision Tool Company during the previous summer, and now at a $12.75 a week part-time job at Loew’s State Theatre, Presley is fired for punching out a fellow usher who told the manager that Elvis was getting free candy from the girl working at the concession stand. Elvis also makes his second public appearance by singing “Cold, Cold Icy Finger” at the Annual school Christmas concert.

1953- Elvis, now 18, graduates from high school and takes his first full time job at the Precision Tool Company. He is then employed by The Crown Electric Co, earning $35 a week as a truck driver. During one run, he sees a sign for the Memphis Recording Service (“We record anything- anywhere- anytime”) at 706, Union Ave, and decides to inquire within. Paying $4 to make a private recording to give his mother a surprise, Elvis commits his voice for the first time ever to tape*. Marion Keisker, office manager for the Sam Phillips, who owns the company and the associated Sun Record label, finds his voice interesting, and keeps a tape of the recording to play for Phillips, and writes down Presley’s address, a neighbour’s phone number and misspells his name as “Elvis Pressley” on the paper. The tape includes the songs “My Happiness” (a reworking of a major 1948 hit for several artists) and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin” (a country song recorded by Bob Lamb)

(* Note – the said tape is reported to be in the region of 30 million dollars plus today, if it were ever to be sold. Only one known copy exists)

1954- Presley returns to the studio just three days before his 19th birthday to make another $4 disc. This time owner Sam Phillips listens with interest and notes Elvis’s address. He was not able to get in touch with the boy before, as the Elvis’s family has now moved again, to 462 Alabama Street. Four months later, Phillips is on the look out for a vocalist to record “Without You”, a song he has received on an anonymous Nashville demo. At Keisker’s suggestion, he agrees to call Presley to the recording studio to record the song. Elvis makes several attempts but finds no empathy with the song, so Phillips lets Presley try out his gospel, R&B and Dean Martin ballad material, and suggest some rehearsal sessions with other musicians. Elvis meets guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist’s Bill Black for the first time, and signs up to a recording contract with Sun Records ( home to country legend Johnny Cash and rock and roller Carl Perkins). The three musicians record “That’s All Right” for Sam Phillips. A “B” side is later found – “Blue Moon Of Kentucky”. Phillips then persuades a Dj friend of his, Dewey Phillips to play Elvis’s tape on his popular late- night radio show. The switchboard immediately lights up with requests for repeated spins. Phillips phones Elvis’s house that very night to ask him to come to the studio for an interview, but Elvis is not at home, but downtown watching a movie in a theatre, for he was unable to face the embarrassment of hearing his own voice on radio. His parents seek him out and take him to the radio station WHBQ later that night. He then gives his very first interview and Memphis learns that this hot new R&B singer is a local white 19 year old and not a “Negro” boy. The song reaches #3 on the local charts. Elvis also then makes his debut as a public performer that same July, complete with rhythmic leg and body movements. The sensual performance drives the audience wild. Presley exits the stage bewildered by screams and shouts which all but drown the music of established country artist Webb Pierce who follows him. The legend of Elvis Presley begins.

1955- Oscar Davis, right hand man to talent entrepreneur Col. Tom Parker (actually born Van Kuijk, in Breda, Holland) is impressed by Presley’s power over an audience having seen him in a performance that he tells Parker about it. Eventually the Colonel takes over Elvis’s management and is Elvis’s manager till Elvis’s death 22 years later. Elvis records his last record for Sun- Mystery Train. The song goes to number one on the Country Charts and is Presley’s first number one record. A deal is struck, and Elvis is signed to RCA Victor for $30,000 – a sum unheard of back then – and Sam Phillips gets $25,000 for himself and Elvis gets the remaining five thousand. With the money, Elvis moves his parents into a new home.

1956- Presley records his first RCA sessions, a cover of Ray Charles “I Got A Woman”, while the second is a new song “Heartbreak Hotel”. He also cuts another favourite standard-“I Was The One”. The session has famous musicians on it, including the famed Chet Atkins on the guitar, Moore and Black, and the song is debuted on Elvis’s first ever TV appearance. By March 1956, “Heartbreak Hotel” reaches number one of the country and western and R&B charts, giving Elvis his first ever US number one and became his first million selling record. His debut Lp Elvis is released. With the Colonel now as his full time manager, Elvis is brought to the attention of Hollywood movie mogul Hall Wallis at Paramount. After flying out to Los Angeles for a screen test, he is declared a natural as an actor, and a seven-year contract deal for three films is made. By the end of the year, five more songs go to number one in the US. They are in the order of release – 1)“I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” 2) Hound Dog 3) Don’t Be Cruel 4) Love Me Tender and 5) Too Much. The last two songs are taken of Elvis’s first movie “Love Me Tender” which is a smash hit. Also in that year, the publication Variety gives Elvis the title of “King Of Rock N’Roll” after more than 54 million people in America tune in to watch him on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Billboard DJ poll reveals that Elvis Presley is the most played male artist and country artist of 1956.

1957- Elvis is called up by the US Army to serve. His second movie “Loving You” -where he receives his first kiss onscreen from scarlet Jana Lund - is another smash hit and it’s songs “All Shook Up” and “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” give Elvis his first number ones of the year. Now the most recognizable face on the earth, in an attempt to find privacy Presley buys Graceland in Memphis. This will be his home for the rest of his life. A 23-room, two storey mansion in 13.8 acres of ground at 3764, South Bellevue Boulevard in the Memphis Suburb Whitehaven, Graceland is the most famous address in modern history. The famous Music Gates of Graceland were installed in April of that year. It was open to the public only after Elvis’s death, and an estimated 1 million people still visit it every year. Elvis now spends most of the year working on a new movie for MGM called “Jailhouse Rock” - in which Presley plays his most famous movie role ever as “Vince Everett”, a misfit convicted of manslaughter who becomes a rock star. The movie spawns two number one singles – including the famous title track “Jailhouse Rock” and the tender ballad “Don’t” – and attracts one of the biggest draws in movie history.

1958- Jailhouse Rock is finally released in the UK and it debuts at #1 (the first time this feat had been achieved) and sells a cool 750,000 copies in it’s first three weeks alone. Elvis reports to the US Army Draft Board and is declared A1 medically. He is given a 60-day deferment to make his next Hollywood blockbuster - “King Creole” – based on Harold Robbin’s best selling novel “A Stone For Danny Fisher”. Elvis is then sworn in March of that year - as US private 53310761 at the local Draft Board 86 Memphis draft office, and is now officially Uncle Sam’s property. He is now paid $78 dollars a month as a private and he begins his Army life in Fort Chaffe, Arkansas. “King Creole” opens across the US and it’s an instant smash. The soundtrack goes to number one fueled by the rockability of it’s first single – “Hard Headed Woman”. The single goes to number one in both the US and UK. Elvis’s mother falls ill and Presley is advised to return home. After initial reluctance (the Army fearing press allegations of “preferential” treatment) Presley is granted compassionate leave. Against his mother’s wishes, he returns home only just in time to say goodbye to his mother. She dies of heart failure in the hospital with Elvis’s father by her bedside. At her funeral, the young Elvis is so overcome with grief that he is unable to stand for much of the proceedings and has to be supported. Five hundred policemen keep the thousands of people at bay who have come to get a glimpse of the world’s biggest star. After the funeral, Presley learns that his army unit has been given orders to set sail for Bremerhaven for a tour of duty in Germany. He goes and his entire family of his father, grandmother, staff and some friends all relocate to Germany to stay close to him. He settles down to life there.

1959- With no new recordings, a compilation of all his hits is released. By year end Elvis will have another number one hit with “A Big Hunk O’Love” – which will be his last release until 1960. At the U.S. Servicemen’s Eagle Club in Wiesbaden, Germany, US Airman Currie Grant introduces to a young American girl, 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, stepdaughter of a US Air Force captain, who lives nearby. Twenty four year old Elvis was bowled over by the girl- not just by her beauty – but because she was not bowled over by the fact that he was Elvis Presley. And it had been a long time since anyone had reacted like that. This first meeting leads to eventually Presley marrying Priscilla seven years later when she turns 21.

1960- Elvis makes his first and only visit to Britain – at Prestwick Airport – in transit from Germany. Now promoted to Sergeant, Elvis is discharged from the Army after completing his tour of duty. The first public appearance after more than three years on television is on the Timex-sponsered Sinatra show “Welcome Home Elvis” - in which he teams for the first and the only time with the legendary Frank Sinatra on a traded duet of “Love Me Tender” and “Witchcraft”. He returns to Hollywood and the big screen after an absence of two years with the “Gi Blues” – in which Elvis plays a young US soldier in Germany looking for romance. The movie is another cult classic instantly and Elvis is back in demand. Two more million selling singles later –“Stuck On You” and “It’s Now Or Never” – Elvis records the standard that many consider to be the greatest Elvis song of all time –“Are You Lonesome Tonight?”. It is Elvis’s biggest seller up-to-date on both sides of the Atlantic. Then financially came the biggest success of his movie career – “Blue Hawaii”. With beautiful ballads like “Can’t Help Falling In Love” – the soundtrack alone sells six million copies. He rounded off 1960 with another number one on the US Charts – “Surrender”. Priscilla is brought to Graceland to live with Elvis’s grandmother. Elvis then takes up Karate to help him relax. Elvis also becomes famous for his generosity for giving away Cadillac cars to unknown people and fans that make him happy. In his lifetime he gives more than a hundred cars to people like that.

1961- Elvis virtually stops recording any new material apart from the soundtracks of his movie songs. He now makes an average of two to three movies a year, and by the time he stops making movies ten years later, he would have made in all thirty- three motion pictures, each and every one a money maker. Most of his movies are family films that parents can take their kids to see. The popular single “Good Luck Charm” is released and becomes his last US number one till 1969.

1962- “Return To Sender” tops the UK charts and peaks at US#2.

1963- Elvis starts work on “It Happened At The Worlds Fair” – and when released becomes the box office draw of the year. The soundtrack includes what many consider to be the most moving love song Elvis Presley ever recorded- “They Remind Me Too Much Of You”. Movie star Kurt Russell (Escape From New York, Early Disney Movies) will make his acting debut in the movie as an uncredited ten year old, and later after Elvis’s death will play the role of Presley himself in the 1979 movie biography “Elvis”- directed by cult Hollywood director John Carpenter. A non-movie song “Devil In Disguise” is released and is another UK number #1 for the man. Work begins on Viva Las Vegas.

1964- The Beatles top the music charts on both sides of the Atlantic. John Lennon in a highly watched interview says, “Before Elvis there was nothing. Without Elvis there would be no Beatles” and acknowledges Presley as the biggest influence in his life. When asked later why the Beatles want to go to America, he immediately replies, “Only to meet Elvis Presley”.

1965- Elvis makes a comeback with his movie “Girl Happy” and the big ballad “Puppet On A String” hits number two. Presley stops giving interviews and appearing in public, becoming one of the most exclusive people in America. The Beatles arrive in America. Elvis meets The Beatles at his house on Perugia Way, Beverly Hills and not at Graceland. No photos or recording were allowed under Elvis’s instructions. The Fab Four get along famously with the King, and a brief jam session follows. No recording of that session of Elvis and The Beatles together is known to exist. Its value is deemed as priceless, if such an acetate would be found.

1967- After courting her for seven years, Elvis finally gets married to his sweetheart Priscilla Beaulieu three weeks before her 22nd birthday in Las Vegas. Presley’s assistant and long-time friend Joe Esposito is the best man. Elvis is ten years older than his wife.

1968- A daughter, Lisa Marie, is born. Elvis seems to be a changed man and a happy father. He goes back to Hollywood to make the fun movie “Live A Little, Love A Little” – of which the single “A Little Less Conversation” is a minor hit for Presley. Thirty-four years later in 2002, the same song is remixed and goes to number one. An avid car collector, Presley donates his Rolls Royce to a woman’s charity. He also gives $35,000 in proceeds to retarded children. Elvis appears on television for the first time in years for an NBC TV special, which becomes known as “The Comeback”. It is estimated that half of the American population watch the show on TV, and the media proudly proclaim that Elvis is back.

1969– “Suspicious Minds” tops the US Charts, giving him his first US number one after 7 years. It will sell almost 2 million copies and Elvis at 34 is back on top of his game. Eventually it will go to number 2 on the UK Chart as well. He also records the Eddie Rabbit penned love song “Kentucky Rain” which will be another big hit for him. His socially aware “In The Ghetto” goes to number one in the UK. His personal entourage is formed - known as the "Memphis Mafia", who are given matching rings by Elvis. The diamond and gold rings sport a thunderbolt and the letters "TCB" (reportedly standing for "Take Care of Business"). Elvis was buried wearing one of the rings.

1970- “The Wonder Of You” tops the UK Charts, where it will stay for the next six weeks, selling over 700,000 copies. Elvis now begins a season of 58 shows in Las Vegas and by the end of the year will attract more people to his concerts than the legendary Frank Sinatra, who is performing across the street from Presley. A revival of the classic Dusty Springfield song “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” gives Elvis another big hit.

1972- Elvis is shattered by Priscilla’s announcement in Las Vegas that she is leaving him. Divorce papers are filed six months later, and Elvis tries to get back into the recording studio. Elvis receives the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards. Presley also makes his final movie “Elvis On Tour” and plays to a sold out crowd in Madison Square Gardens, New York. After seeing him in concert, Liberace suggested adding flashy costumes into his act. Elvis took his advice, and became famous for his gold lame jackets and jeweled white jumpsuits. He later reserved a seat for Liberace at many of his concerts.

1973- “Always On My Mind” is released, going to number one on the Country charts. The song will top the US charts once again 7 years later with country legend Willie Nelson doing a cover of it, and then once again in the late 80’s it will be a UK number one for 80’s pop duo The Pet Shop Boys. Elvis’s TV satellite show “Aloha From Hawaii” is watched by one billion viewers worldwide and the live album tops the US charts- giving Elvis his first number one album in nine years. The TV show also raises more than $75,000 for a cancer fund.

1974- A UK only released double album “40 Greatest Hits” is a big seller. Elvis continues to play to sold out shows at Las Vegas every night. But the man is deteriorating slowly. He forgets lines while singing, and has gained a lot of weight. The only highlight is when Elvis receives his Black Belt in Karate, and he increasingly incorporates elements of the martial art into his stage acts.

1975- In the first few days of the New Year, Presley has to be hospitalized at the Baptist Memorial Hospital, where he will remain for the next two weeks. He is diagnosed with hypertension and an impacted colon, and is ordered to take a special diet and a treatment of cortisone, which has the side effect of causing notable weight gain. From here on, he will fight to maintain a balance between his health and weight for the rest of his life, with prescription drugs in often grossly over-prescribed amounts. He also wins his third and final Grammy Award for his version of the Gospel song “How Great Thou Art”.

1976- Bruce Springsteen, on tour in Memphis, attempts to see Presley by climbing the fence at Graceland. He is escorted off the premises by security guards while trying to explain who he is. Elvis begins to use Graceland as a recording studio. The first album he records there is “From Elvis Presley Boulevard”. Rock and roller Jerry Lee Lewis is arrested outside Graceland sometime near the end of the year, when he appears, drunk and with a .38 Derringer pistol demanding to see Presley.

1977- A June concert in Indianapolis is the King's last concert performance. The book “Elvis: What Happened?” written by former friends Red and Sonny West and Dave Hebler with tabloid journalist Steve Dunleavy, exposing the apparent darker side of Presley’s private personality is published. Elvis at this point is really really depressed and upset about the book and his being overweight, and it shows in his live performances throughout the year. He forgets his lines, and walks off stage without completing his sets. On the 16th of August, just after midnight, as Presley drives through the gates the Graceland (for what will be the last time) in his 1973 Stutz Blackhawk, a fan shoots what will become the final photo ever taken of Elvis alive. At 2:20pm, Presley is discovered lying on the floor in a bathroom on the second floor of Graceland by girlfriend Ginger Alden. (They had reportedly been scheduled to marry on the 27th of the same month) She calls bodyguard Al Strada and aide Joe Esposito, who had been playing racquet ball with Elvis earlier in the day, but he fails to respond to resuscitation attempts and is rushed to the Baptist Memorial Hospital, but pronounced dead at 3:30 pm. His death by heart failure at just 42 makes major headlines throughout the world. (Years later Bio Science Laboratories revealed that at the time of his death, Presley’s body contained 9 different substances including Butabarbital, Codeine, Morphine, Pentobarbital, Placidyl, Quaalude, Valium and Valmid – that subsequently led to his heart seizure)

Thousands of fans from all over the US, and even overseas, arrive in Memphis to pay their respects (25,000 people file past his coffin at Graceland during the afternoon) In Washington, DC, President Jimmy Carter issues a tribute statement: “Elvis Presley’s death deprives our country of a part of itself. He was unique and irreplaceable”. The US President notes how Elvis “changed the face of American popular culture…he was a symbol to people the world over, of the vitality, rebelliousness and good humour of this country”. Presley’s funeral service, arranged by friend and fellow singer J.D Sumner, is held at Graceland, with 150 people attending, and 75,000 more outside the gates. He is laid to rest in Forest Hill Cemetery in a mausoleum alongside his mother. With two prayers, one poem and 150 mourners, the legend is laid to rest in a grey marble crypt, surrounded by thousands of floral tributes which have required over 100 vans to take them from Graceland to the burial site. The King is buried still wearing his TCB (“taking care of business”) ring. It’s the end of an era. "Way Down," is the No. 1 song on Billboard magazine's country singles chart the week of Elvis' death. Ten re-charting Presley albums peak in the UK and US, and his 40 Greatest Hits goes to number one. By the end of the year Elvis will have had 20 more top ten hits on the charts with all his old songs re-released, including 3 number ones. The single “Way Down” becomes one of the King’s most successful songs ever, for it tops the UK charts for five weeks and sells more than 600,000 copies alone. Two months after he is buried, the bodies of the King and his mother are removed from the cemetery and re-buried side by side in the Meditation Garden at the rear of Graceland, as attempts to steal his body from the public cemetery are made. By the end of the year, his tomb will be open to the public, but not his home and belongings.

1978-79 Elvis’s father Vernon Presley dies of a heart attack aged 63. He will be buried besides his wife and son at Graceland. Elvis memorabilia is at an all time high, with everything from clocks to posters selling faster than ever. An “Elvis” movie is made on his life and times, with actor Kurt Russell playing the King. Hysteria over "Elvis sightings" after his death, is lampooned in the Mojo Nixon song "Elvis Is Everywhere". Many fans believe that the King is alive and well. An “Elvis” musical hits the stage as well.

1982- Graceland is finally opened to the public after going through a $50,000 face-lift. Priscilla's investment in the refurbishing of Elvis's digs increased the value of his estate to more than $10 million.

1985- Ex wife Priscilla provides a personal view of her marriage to the King in her autobiography "Elvis and Me." She is now a famous TV actress. The book tops the bestseller lists. Elvis would have been 50 years old.

1986- Presley is the first person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame at the inaugural dinner, staged at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York.

1987- To commemorate ten years of the Kings death, a new compilation of his 18 US number one singles is released.

1992- The first of many legacy sets to come – “The King Of Rock N’Roll – The Complete 50’s Masters” is released. The 5 cd box set will contain every single recording Presley ever made in the fifties and will be a bestseller by the end of the year. Soundtrack album, “Honeymoon In Vegas” is a smash hit. The movie starring Nicholas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker and James Caan and featuring a group of sky-diving Elvis impersonators, features cover versions of Presley hits from U2’s Bono, Bryan Ferry, Billy Joel and Willie Nelson among others. One of his best compilations ever called “From The Heart –His Greatest Love Songs” will be one of the biggest sellers in the UK that year. It peaks at UK#4.

1993- Elvis gets his own US postage stamp. Many fans will deliberately address letters to false destinations so that they will stamped “Return To Sender” – in memoriam of the 60’s song. 5 Cd set “ From Nashville To Memphis – The Essential 60’s Masters” is released.

1994- In a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic, the daughter of the King of Rock N’Roll unites two musical families when she weds pop music idol Michael Jackson. The marriage lasts three years.

1995- Five disc box set “Walk A Mile In My Shows-The Essential 70’s Masters” covering his 70’s recordings and completing his career trilogy is released. It contains the largest number of previously unreleased songs from his archive. A complete set of all his big movie hits is also released as the double Cd “Command Performances- The Essential 60’s Masters Vol 2”. It is rated as one of the best compilations ever by Elvis fans.

1997- Fans commemorate the 20th anniversary of Elvis's death, and the first Elvis club, "Elvis Presley's Memphis," opens on Beale Street in Memphis. “Always On My Mind” recharts in the UK at number 5, largely thanks to a new compilation. Elvis’s manager and friend Col. Tom Parker dies at the age of 87.

1998- The Country Music Association posthumously inducts Elvis into its Hall of Fame. Priscilla accepts the award.

1999- The Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) declares Elvis Presley as the only artist to have ever sold over 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) albums worldwide; more than any other musical artist/group in the world, including "The Beatles." With more than eighty gold and forty-three platinum albums to his credit, Presley remains the undisputed monarch of sales.

2002- Elvis is now as much - if not more of --a popular culture icon today as he was in his life; though 25 years have passed since his untimely death. A re-mixed version of the obscure recording, "A Little Less Conversation", becomes a dance club hit, and tops the charts in the UK. The King now has more No. 1 hits than any artist in the pop chart's 50-year history. Elvis' music is featured in the new Walt Disney Pictures' Lilo and Stitch and it tops the US Soundtrack charts. The RIAA issues a statement that The King' Cracks the 100 Million Sales Plateau. He received more Gold and Platinum records than any performer in U.S. music history according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Dating from the 1954 date that produced "That's All Right" to the February '76 Graceland sessions, -“Today, Tomorrow & Forever” is released. The new box set of more than a hundred unreleased recordings captures every phase in Elvis's career. Daughter Lisa Marie Presley and the Oscar-winning actor Nicholas Cage get married in a ceremony on the Big Island of Hawaii. New Cd Compilation Of Number 1 hits released in time for his 25th Death Anniversary. 30 of The King's biggest hits for the first time on a single compilation. The album tops the charts in 29 countries and becomes the biggest selling compilation of Elvis's career.

2003- Elvis's daughter Lisa Marie Presley releases her first album "To Whom It May Concern" to great fan fare. The album recieves a lukewarm reception and slides of the charts in four weeks. A marked improvement over the previous compilation -(30 #1 Hits)- Elvis 2nd To None is released. A great followup, no weak tracks, the new compilation includes a previously unreleased Elvis song "I'm A Roustabout" - and a remix of "Rubberneckin' (done by Dj Paul Oakenfold) - which goes to number one on the US & European dance charts.

2004- 5th July 2004-Elvis Presley’s “That’s All Right” plays simultaneously on over 1500 radio stations around the world to mark the 50th anniversary of the rock ’n roll icon’s first single release.The song is labeled as the tune that started the musical and cultural phenomenon known as rock 'n' roll. The reissued cd single of "That's All Right" quickly becomes the top seller in the United States on Billboard’s singles charts, and makes history as the first song to turn No. 1 - fifty years after it was recorded. A 24 hours a day, seven days a week Elvis radio station debuts in America on Sirius Radio Network...

2005- In the UK charts (January 2005), three re-issued singles again went to number one ("Jailhouse Rock", "One Night"/"I Got Stung" and "It's Now or Never"). Throughout the year, twenty singles were re-issued—all making top five. Rhys Meyers plays The King from his humble beginnings to his rise to international stardom in a special mini-series called Elvis. More than 300 Elvis fans auditioned for the role, but they were all turned away and Myers was hired, even though he wasn't one of the 300 at the audition.

2006- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Graceland, the home of his musical hero (who would have guessed?) as a guest of US President George W Bush. Mr Koizumi burst into song with a few bars of "Love Me Tender" in the Jungle Room of Graceland on a private tour led by Priscilla and Lisa Marie. The visit makes headlines the world over. Mr Koizumi's lifelong devotion to Elvis is now well known. He has also sung Elvis songs to world leaders and done duets with celebrities including Tom Cruise.

2007- Tens of thousands of fans from around the world gathered outside Gracland to mark the 30th anniversary of his death in an event meant to honor The King's legacy. Hershey's Chocolate makes an Elvis Reese's cup with banana-crème filling.

2008- Every single Elvis movie is now available on DVD. The Graceland tour is revamped and the new features include the story of Elvis' life, his amazing career, photos from the Graceland archives, home movies and more.