Elvis Presley Influence

In the 1950s, parents believed in two things: that Elvis Presley was the “devil incarnate,” and rock n’ roll would be a brief fad (Broeske). This was a time when most families were warming up to their new house in the suburbs, enjoying the middle class life, and welcoming their newborn child to its crib. To adults, that was truly perfect. To teenagers, however, they felt pressured. Pressured to join the workforce as soon as possible, pressured to go to college as soon as possible, and pressured to get married and start a family as soon as possible. Teenagers were angry and needed an outlet for the anger. Once they heard Elvis Presley’s music, teens knew that they had found a way to relieve stress and feel free. The 1950s was a conservative decade until Elvis Presley popularized a new genre of music, rock n’ roll, with his gyrating hips and youthful energy, he managed to change an old-fashioned society to a “new” and free one.

The type of music that Elvis Presley was exposed to as a child shaped the type of music he would grow up to sing as an adult. Born on January 8, 1935, to uneducated sharecroppers, Vernon and Gladys Presley, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis’ birth did not come without sadness. His twin brother,

Moreover, with his daringly unique style, delivery, and sound, he symbolized the cultural shakeup that rumbled throughout the era. (Broeske)” Due to the reasons listed above, the Elvis Presley fan base was undoubtedly the biggest in the world. For instance, Elvis fans were buying nearly three-fourths of all music sales in the United States (Willis 68). Elvis was very kind off stage and did not treat his fans as though they were beneath him (Broeske). That was one of the reasons why the Elvis fan base was so large and lasted for so