The most vivid image of Elvis that is ingrained in the pop culture mindset is a vibrant Elvis in his early twenties moving his hips and singing his heart out to his vast collection of hits. Elvis Presley was, of course, not always the King of Rock and Roll. With the celebration this month of what would have been his 77th birthday, let’s take a look back to his early years.

He was born Elvis Aaron Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. The proud parents were Vernon and Gladys Presley. Vernon was then only 18, while Gladys was 22. 

 

 

Elvis had a twin brother, Jessie Garon, who was stillborn. His parents never had another child after this birth so Elvis essentially only knew the life of an “only child.”

 

The future star grew up in that humble two-room house that his father had built. He was very close to his parents, especially his mother. He went to East Tulepo Consolidated for elementary school and Lawhon Junior High School in the early 1940s. He started entering singing contests as a child, and he excelled in them.

 

In 1948, when he was 13, Elvis moved with mom and dad to Memphis, Tennessee. This is a city that would greatly influence his later artistry, and he embraced it as home. He frequented clubs that played R & B on Beale Street in Memphis as a teen. He also loved gospel music at his Assembly of God church. 

 

Elvis graduated from Humes High School in Memphis, and he then began his career in the city in 1954 when he started working with visionary Sam Phillips at Sun Records. .