THE KING OF ROCK´N ROLL

When Elvis Presley, the king of Rock n n Roll, died in 1977, President Carter called him "a symbol of America." At the time of his death Elvis was already a legend, and his attraction remains unbroken in spite of seventeen years that have passed since.

Elvis Presley was born in Tulepo ,a small town in northern Mississippi ,on January 8th ,1935. His parents were very poor -they didn't even have enough money to pay the fifteen dollar fee for the doctor who assisted at Elvis`s birth. At school Elvis was shy with his classmates and not very good at schoolwork.
But there was one talent he did posses: he could listen to a song on the radio and play it by ear on his guitar without ever having learnt to read music.

After completing his high school education in 1953, he began to work as a truck driver. His career as a pop singer started when one day he recorded a song at Sun Record Company. The song, which was meant to be a birthday surprise for his mother, had the title "It's all right, Mama" and was accidentally heard by the company president, who immediately offered him a recording contract. Elvis`s first commercial record came out a year later and was quite a successes. Soon he began touring the South and played on local radios. His popularity increased steadily; he became an instant hit in the charts and in concert halls. His type of music came to be called "Rock n` Roll" because of its strong dance rythm.

In the late 1960´s however, Elvis`s style of singing began to lose some of its fascination. His marriage with Priscilla Beaulieu, failed and with the divorce he had to give up his beloved daughter Lisa Marie too.
He started eating too much and taking drugs. In April 1977, Elvis`s fell seriously ill; he never really recovered and died of a heart attack in August of that year.

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