The legend never fades aways as fans all over the world celebrate 79 years since the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” was born. Unfortunately, he died of a heart problem in 1977 at age 42, at his massive Graceland estate in Memphis, Tenn. Graceland, where Elvis spent most of his time when not performing, is the most famous home in America after The White House.
King of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Elvis reportedly earned the nickname the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” when a magazine ran a contest between Elvis and calypso singer Harry Belafonte to see who was the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
Elvis won and the nickname stuck. The magazine later pitted Elvis against Pat Boone and Elvis against the Beatles and Elvis won both contests.
Elvis’ heritage
Elvis had 18 No. 1 hits, a record until the Beatles totaled 20 from 1964 through 1970.
Of the soloists who had at least one No. 1 hit during that span, Stevie Wonder tops the list with eight. He had his first chart topper with “Fingertips Part 2” in 1963. That’s less than half as many as Elvis had. No singer, who had his/her first No. 1 hit prior to 1960, had five.
Elvis had a record 114 Top 40 hits. Elton John is second with 59, slightly more than half of Elvis’ total. The Beatles were third with 52.
Of the singers from 1955 through 1963, Stevie Wonder had 46 Top 40 hits, one more than Aretha Franklin. Pat Boone had 38, Fats Domino 37 and Ricky Nelson and Connie Francis 35 each.
Graceland celebrates Elvis’ birthday with 4 days of special events
Graceland kicks off a four-day birthday celebration in honor of Elvis’ 79th birthday on Wednesday, January 8 in Memphis. At 9:30 a.m., a proclamation ceremony will kick off the celebration at Graceland. City and county leaders will be there to cut the birthday cake and read a proclamation of Elvis Presley Day.
The Graceland Stable will be available for tours, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. There are many more events scheduled throughout the day and the celebration wraps up on Saturday.
A full list of events can be found here: http://www.elvis.com/
