Elvis Presley: The King Of Rock And Roll

On January 8th, 1935 one of the greatest influences to pop and country was born. Elvis Aaron Presley changed the way people heard and saw music through his songs and the way he performed them. Elvis’ music was stunning, he had eighteen American No. 1s and hundreds of gold records from around the world. He brought a way of performing that people had never experienced before, he was electrifying when he performed on stage. Elvis Presley was the first rock'n'roll star, he brought rebellion to the youth of that time and was able to grasp the listener and draw them into his songs which few artist have ever been able to accomplish.

Elvis inspired and influenced rock musicians like Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Bruce Springsteen. Elvis’ early life was mostly in Memphis, Tennessee with his cousins. His middle life was full of music. Presley’s late life had a downfall, but, he kept on going forward. To truly understand Elvis Presley, one must understand his early, middle, and late life.

The 1950’s was characterized as a prosperous and conformity for various reasons. One of the main reasons was the development of the suburbs. Since a lot of the black people migrated to the big cities there was rich and middle class families left to live in the suburbs areas to escape the crime of the cities. This mass migration later became known as the “white flight” (Document A). The 1950’s was the times when the American soldiers were coming back home from WWII and many new babies were born. This new families would moved to the suburbs and they were the perfect example of conformity, also known as “The American Dream”, married couples would have one or two children, often a pet, a nice house, and one or two cars. “This middle class families were earning between $3,000 and 10,000 a year. The population during this time was about 151,684,000 with an unemployment figure around 3,288,000” (Bradley). Industries began to expand in order to meet the needs for all the new people looking for work and thirty percent of the work force was in industry and commerce. The economy was booming steady.

Elvis Presley was not a remarkable singer when he started out. For many years, he worked diligently with his work to try to get his music heard by other people. His success finally came when people gave him a chance. Elvis later received a slew of awards for his musical works. Although most people see Elvis Presley as only a great singer, Elvis created a style of music that led to the music we have today.

Kanye West is our Elvis Presley. Much like how Elvis altered and spread rock n’ roll, Kanye West has laid the foundation for modern hip-hop. When I say Kanye West, you think of narcissism and ego and god-complex. You think of him taking to the stage to say that George Bush “doesn’t care about black people” at a Hurricane Katrina relief broadcast. You think of the 2009 VMA’s where he famously interrupted Taylor Swift. You think of incoherent, angry, controversial Tweets. You think of a crazed and bipolar and aggressive celebrity. In short, it’s safe to say that his name carries a negative connotation with most people. However, Kanye West is responsible for numerous changes in hip-hop and music, like it or not. Much like how Elvis’ music influenced Emily Dickinson in the fictional poem Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven by Hans Ostrom, Kanye West has helped shape this pillar of

Elvis Presley has had more impact on American society and culture than any other person in history for the three following reasons; his large contribution to the start of the generation gap in the 1950’s, his huge impact on rock ‘n’ roll music, and finally, his music opened a door for some integration between races.

Many musicians shaped the music of the 20th century, but a few had a lasting impact. Research and discovering how musician or band affects the musicians of their day. I have read a lot about Quincy’s career, and so will you. He started out a trumpet player and became an arranger and composer for Michael Jackson. then he started playing and making records. Quincy Jones had an interesting jazz career, he won lots of awards, and had the best jazz music ever.

With an estimated one billion units sold and counting, Elvis Presley is thought to be the most commercially successful solo musical artist of all time (Meacham 1) Born in Tupelo Mississippi and later relocating to Memphis Tennessee, Elvis was a natural star. Elvis won a high school talent show by singing and playing his guitar, earning the most applause out of any of the contestants. He would soon after that become a trucker, but his dreams of becoming a star were not crushed yet. Elvis gyrated his hips into America's heart as the most influential figure in American history.

Elvis faced many obstacles during his 24 years as the “King” he faced racial controversy, musical barriers, and bad press in order to help create Rock and Roll music. Long before Rock n Roll was created or even thought of, the musical world was divided over petty differences. One of the many reasons why music was divided was the heavy racism that plagued the United States since the end of slavery. Another reason why music was divided was the fact of a huge generation gap, or difference between parent and child. These are some of the challenges that Elvis faced.

Jimi Hendrix was the most famous American rock guitarist in my heart. He has multi talent, he can sing and play the guitar skillfully at the same time, also he is a songwriter. He was born in Seattle, Washington on November 27, 1942. Started playing guitar at age 15, when he first got his guitar from his father as a gift. He loves rock music and he also plays blues and R&B music. In 1960s, Jimi Hendrix become very well known by his techniques of his guitar play and his passionate of performance on the stage. When he is on the stage, he really put himself into the music that he plays, his excitement of music just can turn people to hype. People don’t care about his skin color, they think he is a great guitarist and singer, they just want to see him play when he is on the stage, but they never care about who is he playing with or where does he come from.

had the unique skill to merge genre’s together and form something that was entirely different and new for the generation, and which led to other generations to merge other genres. Presley’s inspiration of genres was greatly impacted by the African American culture; however, brought his country-side to his music, which is what gave his music his own creative sound. He was the first artist to basically merge black and white music together, and widening his fan base.

Little Richard first released “Tutti Frutti” in 1955, and Elvis Presley released his version in 1956. Both versions of the songs sound similar in that they invoke a feeling of happiness and a desire to get up and dance. However, these songs are not identical.

Although Michael Jackson was a controversial figure; he will ultimately be remembered for his fantastic singing ability and incredible dancing style. Michael Jackson was an incredible singer and a generous volunteer. Not only did he change the music world he also had an effect on society. He captivated the world with his dancing and fashion. He inspired many people in the singing industry right now. Those are only a few of the things he did.

Michael Jackson was an inspirational dancer and the legend of the music industry! He was a song writer, a artist, but despite his fame and wealth, he had a very troubled life. Here I will tell you everything about how Michael Jackson 's fame rose and fell. From his early days as the lead singer in his family band called the Jackson Five, they made 20 albums until 1984. Even though Michael had a solo career and he became a hit in 1972 he still was in his family band. His father pushed him and his brothers, so hard that if they didn 't do well there father would start to get violent. Despite this, Jackson 's father had faith that they would become a hit. Thanks to his father, Jackson was so big that he started to be called “the King of Pop”. (

Hail the human race, but I never knew a person can gyrate their body part of their body with such vigor and dedication such as I see today. I doubt if whether Elvis Presley were to wake up today he would do a gig with Justin Bieber or Shakira and go home celebrating how they fired up the place. Or would he go home complaining how the song lacked harmony, or they were too synthetic or lacked a particular instrument? I don’t for a second doubt whether The Beatles and Lady Gaga would find common ground when it comes to rebellion and controversy, but would share the same platform. Disappointingly, this new crop of musician will always find a way to get inspired by a Diana Ross, a Michael Jackson, or an Elvis Presley. These are some of the woes I go through when I look at today’s popular music, and they are the reason why I mourn for the good old and gone times of Thriller, and Billie Jean. Almost every decade that passes always comes with a new style of music, but the 1980’s was a period of exponential evolution in the pop industry that has remained unmatched to date.