- 1909
| Jun 26 | Col. Tom Parker carnival barker, show business promoter: manager of Elvis Presley; is born. | Ref: 4 |
- 1912
| Apr 25 | Gladys L. Presley, mother of Elvis Presley, is born. | Ref: 2 |
- 1923
| Jan 05 | Sam Phillips, the Sun Records record executive who discovered Elvis Presley, is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1926
| Dec 11 | Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton blues singer: pre-Elvis version of Hound Dog; is born. | Ref: 4 |
- 1931
| Dec 27 | Scotty Moore guitarist (for Elvis), is born. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 28 | Scotty Moore guitarist (for Elvis), is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1935
| Jan 08 | Rock-and-roll legend Elvis Presley is born in Tupelo, MS. | Ref: 68 |
| Jan 08 | Jesse Garon Presley stillborn twin brother of Elvis, is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1944
| Nov 27 | Eddie Rabbitt songwriter: Kentucky Rain [Elvis Presley]; singer: I Love A Rainy Night, Travelin’ My Life Away, Suspicions, Every Which Way But Loose; his 17 albums garnered 26 #1 country hits and 8 pop hits; died May 7, 1998 | Ref: 4 |
- 1945
| May 24 | Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Priscilla Ann Wagner) (actress: Dallas, Naked Gun series; mother of Lisa Marie Presley, was married to Elvis Presley; coexecutor of the Elvis Presley estate, Priscilla transformed Graceland into a $50-million business), is born in Brooklyn NY. | Ref: 4 |
- 1946
| May 24 | Actress, wife of Elvis, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Priscilla Ann Wagner), is born in Brooklyn NY. (TWA, 2003) | Ref: 95 |
- 1952
| Mar 27 | Sun Records of Memphis begins releasing records | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 13 | The original version of "Hound Dog" was recorded by Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton. It was the first hit for the song-writing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Musician-composer Johnny Otis ("Willie and the Hand Jive") said he helped Leiber and Stoller with the writing of "Hound Dog". All was fine as long as Big Mama Thornton was doin’ the singing (Otis was her producer); but as soon as the Elvis version started bringing in the bucks, Otis was cut out of the picture. Otis went to court but lost the suit. | Ref: 4 |
- 1953
| Jun 14 | Elvis Presley graduated from L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, TN. Within three years, the truck driver-turned-singer had his first number-one record with Heartbreak Hotel. | Ref: 4 |
- 1954
| Jan 04 | Elvis Presley strolls into the Memphis Recording Service and puts $4 on the counter. He records Casual Love and I’ll Never Stand in Your Way, two songs that so impressed record executive Sam Phillips that he had Elvis record his first professional sides for Sun Records the following August. | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 08 | Elvis Presley pays $4 to a Memphis studio & records his first two songs, "Casual Love" & "I'll Never Stand in Your Way". | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 05 | Elvis Presley records his debut single, "That's All Right". | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 07 | Elvis Presley makes his radio debut in Memphis TN as station WHBQ plays his first recording for Sun Records "That's All Right Momma". (XDG, p 4A, 7/7/2000) | Ref: 83 |
| Aug 10 | Elvis Presley made one of his first professional appearances, at Overton Park, in his hometown of Memphis, TN. He used the occasion to debut his new record, That’s All Right (Mama), and was a big crowd pleaser. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 28 | That's All Right b/w Blue Moon of Kentucky became Elvis Presley’s first hit single on local charts in Memphis, TN. Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips had debuted the single on his Red Hot and Blue show on WHBQ radio -- and the rest is history. | Ref: 4 |
- 1955
| Mar 03 | A truck driver from Tupelo, MS made his first TV appearance. Elvis Aron Presley was featured on Louisiana Hayride. This prompted promoters to send Elvis to New York City to audition for Arthur Godfrey’s immensely popular and career-making Talent Scouts program. Talent coordinators and Godfrey are said to have passed on Elvis appearing on the show. Not much later, he was tossed out of the Grand Ole Opry as well, and told to “go back to driving a truck.” In a little over a year, however, the nation was caught up in Presley-mania… | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 28 | A local kid, Buddy Holly, from Lubbock, TX opens a concert for Marty Robbins and Elvis Presley. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 22 | RCA paid the unheard of sum of $25,000 to Sam Phillips of Memphis, TN for the rights to the music of a truck driver from Tupelo, Mississippi: Elvis Presley. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 03 | Elvis Presley’s first release on RCA Victor Records is announced. The two songs were Mystery Train and I Forgot to Remember to Forget. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 17 | Carl Perkins wrote Blue Suede Shoes. Less than 48 hours later, he recorded it at the Sun Studios in Memphis. The tune became one of the first records to be popular simultaneously on rock, country and rhythm & blues charts. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 19 | Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes". | Ref: 5 |
- 1956
| Jan 01 | Elvis Presley records Heartbreak Hotel for RCA in Nashville. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 05 | Elvis Presley records "Heartbreak Hotel". | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 08 | Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog" single goes to #1 & stays #1 for a record 11 weeks (for a single). | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 10 | Elvis Presley recorded his first tunes as an RCA Victor artist. Recording in Nashville, Elvis sang Heartbreak Hotel, I Was the One, I’m Counting On You, I Got a Woman and Money Honey. Heartbreak Hotel was #1 by April 11, 1956 and stayed there for eight weeks. It was #1 on the pop and rhythm and blues charts and number five on the country music list. | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 28 | Elvis Presley made his first appearance on national television on "The Dorsey Brothers Show", starring Tommy and Jimmy. Elvis sang "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel". | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 30 | Elvis Presley records his version of "Blue Suede Shoes". | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 10 | Elvis Presley records "Heartbreak Hotel" for RCA. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 22 | Elvis Presley entered the music charts for the first time. Heartbreak Hotel began its climb to the number one spot on the pop listing, reaching the top on April 11, 1956. It stayed at the top for eight weeks. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 27 | Elvis Presley's releases "Heartbreak Hotel". | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 11 | Elvis Presley reached the top spot on the Billboard music chart with his first double-sided hit. The disk featured Heartbreak Hotel and I Was the One. The RCA Victor record stayed at number one for eight weeks. Elvis also made the country and R&B charts, as well. | Ref: 4 |
| Apr 21 | Elvis Presley's first hit record, "Heartbreak Hotel", becomes #1. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 22 | Elvis Presley makes his Las Vegas debut on this night at the Frontier Hotel. | Ref: 4 |
| Apr 25 | Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" goes to number one on the charts. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 05 | Elvis Presley made his second appearance on Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theatre. Presley sang Heartbreak Hotel, his number one hit. The TV critics were not kind to Elvis’ appearance on the show. They panned him, saying his performance looked “like the mating dance of an aborigine.” | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 01 | Elvis Presley got an invitation from Steve Allen to appear on The Tonight Show. Although Elvis showed up in formal wear, the penguin suit didn’t hamper his ability to sing Hound Dog to a sad-eyed basset hound. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 02 | Elvis Presley recorded Hound Dog and Don’t Be Cruel for his new record label home, RCA Victor. In addition, Elvis recorded Any Way You Want Me for later release. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 11 | Elvis Presley releases "Don't Be Cruel". | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 09 | On this Sunday night, 54,000,000 viewers (82.6 percent of the U.S. television audience) turned their TV dials to CBS as Ed Sullivan introduced 21-year-old singer Elvis ‘The Pelvis’ Presley. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 11 | Elvis Presley makes first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Gets 82.6 share of TV viewers. | Ref: 10 |
| Nov 07 | Elvis Presley hit the charts with Love Me. The song was the first million-seller to make the charts without being released as a single. It was, instead, an EP (extended play) 45 rpm, with three other songs on it: Rip It Up, Paralyzed and When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again -- on RCA Victor. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 15 | Love Me Tender, the first Elvis Presley film, premiers. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 09 | The Million Dollar Session was held at Sun Records in Memphis, TN. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis gathered for an impromptu jam session. Six songs by the artists were recorded at this session. None of the songs was released for nearly three decades. | Ref: 4 |
- 1957
| Jan 06 | Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 13 | Elvis Presley recorded All Shook Up and That’s When Your Heartaches Begin for Victor Records in Hollywood. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 05 | Sergeant Bilko satirizes Elvis Presley (Elvin Pelvin). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 14 | Elvis Presley has first number one hit in Britain All Shook Up. | Ref: 10 |
| Oct 21 | The Elvis Presley movie, Jailhouse Rock, opened in U.S. theatres. The flick also starred Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaughn Taylor, Jennifer Holden, Dean Jones and Anne Neyland and is considered by many to be Elvis’ best film. | Ref: 4 |
- 1958
| Mar 22 | Elvis Presley reported to local draft board 86 in Memphis, TN. He became US 53310761. Oddly, since Elvis was now ‘government property’ serving his time in the Army, Uncle Sam stood to lose an estimated $500,000 in lost taxes each year that Private Presley was in the Army. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 24 | Elvis Presley reported to local draft board 86 in Memphis, TN. He became US 53310761. Oddly, since Elvis was now ‘government property’ serving his time in the Army, Uncle Sam stood to lose an estimated $500,000 in lost taxes each year that Private Presley was in the Army. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 11 | Elvis Presley received a gold record for the hit, Hard Headed Woman. The song was featured in the movie King Creole. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 14 | Gladys L Presley mom of Elvis, dies at 46. | Ref: 5 |
- 1959
| Mar 14 | Elvis Presley made the album charts, but no one would have known by the title of the disk. For LP Fans Only was the first LP ever issued without the artist’s name to be found anywhere on the cover -- front or back. | Ref: 4 |
| May 11 | Elvis Presley's first entry on UK charts with "Heartbreak Hotel". | Ref: 5 |
- 1960
| Jan 14 | US Army promoted Elvis Presley to Sergeant. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 05 | Elvis Presley returned to civilian life after a two-year hitch in the U.S. Army. | Ref: 4 |
| May 12 | Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra special. | Ref: 5 |
- 1961
| Jan 26 | "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" by Elvis Presley peaks to #1. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 25 | Elvis Presley performed his first post-Army appearance, a benefit for planning and building the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The concert raised well over $64,000 and raised public awareness of the need for the memorial. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 11 | Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii" album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 20 weeks. | Ref: 5 |
- 1967
| May 01 | Elvis Presley got hitched to a girl he had dated since his army days in West Germany. Elvis and Priscilla Beaulieu married in Las Vegas, NV. The wedding cake, incidentally, cost $3,500. The marriage lasted until 1973. | Ref: 4 |
- 1968
| Feb 01 | Elvis Presley celebrated the birth of his daughter, Lisa Marie. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 16 | Elvis Presley receives a gold record for his sacred album of hymns, "How Great Thou Art". | Ref: 4 |
- 1969
| Jan 10 | Elvis Presley’s single, Don’t Cry Daddy, entered the Top 10 on the pop charts this day. If you listened to this song carefully, you’d hear a vocal duet with country artist Ronnie Milsap. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 01 | Elvis Presley hit number one in the U.S. with Suspicious Minds. It was his first #1 pop single since Good Luck Charm in 1962 and his last #1 pop single. | Ref: 4 |
- 1970
| Dec 21 | Elvis Presley met with President Richard M. Nixon in the Oval Office to discuss fighting drugs. | Ref: 70 |
- 1972
| Jan 15 | Elvis Presley, who was also censored from the waist down by Ed Sullivan, reportedly drew the largest audience for a single TV show to that time. Elvis presented a live, worldwide concert from Honolulu on this day. | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 17 | Section of Memphis' Highway 51 South renamed Elvis Presley Blvd. | Ref: 5 |
- 1973
| Jan 14 | Elvis Presley drew the largest audience for a single TV show to that time -- an estimated one billion viewers in 40 countries. Elvis - Aloha From Hawaii, a live, worldwide concert from Honolulu International Center Arena. Performed at 12:30 a.m. Hawaiian Time, it was beamed live via Globecam Satellite to Australia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, South Vietnam and other countries, and was seen on a delayed basis in approximately 30 European countries. The first American airing was April 4th on NBC-TV. The show was also released as a two-record album, and became one of Elvis’s top-selling LPs. | Ref: 4 |
| Jan 25 | Elvis Presley Jr, alleged son of Elvis Presley, is born. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 09 | Priscilla Presley, was divorced from Elvis -- in Santa Monica, CA. Ms. Presley got $1.5 million in cash, $4,200 per month in alimony, half interest in a $750,000 home plus about 5% interest in two of Elvis’ publishing companies. | Ref: 4 |
- 1975
| Dec 31 | Elvis Presley performs before 60,000 fans at the Silverdome in Pontiac, MI. He earned $800,000 for the concert -- a world record for a single concert by a single artist. | Ref: 4 |
- 1976
| Aug 21 | RCA Victor Records announces that sales of Elvis Presley records had passed the 400 million mark. | Ref: 4 |
- 1977
| Aug 16 | Elvis Presley dies of a heart attack in the upstairs bedroom suite area of his Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. | Ref: 24 |
| Aug 18 | Elvis Presley's funeral; 75,000 gather outside Graceland to pay respects. | Ref: 10 |
- 1978
| Jan 31 | "Elvis The Legend Lives!" opens at Palace Theater New York City NY for 101 performances. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 30 | "Elvis The Legend Lives!" closes at Palace NYC after 101 performances. | Ref: 5 |
- 1979
| Feb 11 | 43 million watch "Elvis!" on ABC. | Ref: 5 |
- 1980
| Sep 12 | An in-depth report on the death of Elvis Presley aired on ABC-TV’s 20/20. It raised so many unanswered questions that the official case concerning Elvis’ death was reopened. | Ref: 4 |
- 1984
| Jul 25 | Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton blues singer: pre-Elvis version of Hound Dog; dies. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 16 | Though it didn’t make the pop music charts, a new single by Elvis Presley was released by RCA Victor Records. The song was originally recorded in 1956 at the Tupelo (MS) Fairgrounds. It was called, Baby, Let’s Play House. | Ref: 4 |
- 1989
| May 29 | Danielle Riley Keough grand daughter of Elvis Presley, is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1992
| Apr 06 | Voting begins on choice of Elvis postage stamps. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 29 | Voting ends on choice of Elvis stamps | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 04 | The U.S. Postal Service announced the results of a nationwide vote on the Elvis Presley stamp, saying more people preferred the "younger Elvis" design. | Ref: 70 |
- 1993
| Jan 08 | The US Postal Service issues a stamp depicting Elvis Presley. (XDG, p 4A, 1/8/2001) | Ref: 83 |
- 1994
| Apr 28 | Lisa Marie Presley separates from Danny Keough. | Ref: 5 |
| May 26 | Pop star Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in the Dominican Republic. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 05 | Michael Jackson and bride, Lisa Marie Presley, visited Budapest, Hungary. While there, they filmed an advertisement for his upcoming album, HIStory Past, Present and Future - Book 1. The couple also visited children’s hospitals where they comforted young patients and distributed toys. | Ref: 4 |
- 1995
| Jun 14 | Michael Jackson and wife, Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson, were interviewed by Diane Sawyer on ABC-TV’s PrimeTime Live. Sawyer questioned the couple about how they got to know each other, how Michael proposed, etc. The hour long interview, at the old MGM set at Sony Pictures, Hollywood, was seen by 60 million US viewers and millions more around the world. Selected snippets from the interview: Do they have sex? “Yes, yes, yes.” Prenuptial agreement? “Yes.” Regarding accusations of child molestation? “Never ever! I could never harm a child, or anyone. It’s not in my heart. It’s not how I am. I am not even interested in that!” Would Michael like to be as black as he once was? “I love black.” | Ref: 4 |
- 1996
| Jan 18 | Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson in NY. | Ref: 5 |
- 1997
| Jan 21 | Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s manager of 22 years, died of a stroke in Las Vegas (age 87). Parker wasn’t a real colonel and his real name wasn’t Tom Parker. According to James L. Dickerson in his book Colonel Tom Parker, his colonelcy was bestowed upon him in 1948 by the governor of Louisiana and was purely of the honorary variety, though immediately upon receiving it Parker told an underling, “From now on, see to it that everyone addresses me as the Colonel.” His name may (or may not) have been Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk, and he may (or may not) have been born in the Netherlands in 1909, from which he may (or may not) have immigrated to the United States as a teenager. Parker became Presley’s manager in 1955 when Elvis was on the verge of becoming a rock ’n’ roll star. He had firm control over Elvis’ career, taking between 25 and 50 per cent of the singer’s earnings. (TWA, 1998) | Ref: 95 |
- 1998
| May 07 | Eddie Rabbitt songwriter: Kentucky Rain [Elvis Presley]; singer: I Love A Rainy Night, Travelin’ My Life Away, Suspicions, Every Which Way But Loose; his 17 albums garnered 26 #1 country hits and 8 pop hits; dies. | Ref: 4 |
- 1999
| Oct 17 | Thomas Durden, who co-wrote (with Mae Boren Axton of Nashville) the lyrics to Elvis Presley's hit "Heartbreak Hotel," dies at his home in Houghton Lake, Michigan. He was 79. (21 Oct 99) | Ref: 9 |
- 2002
| Aug 10 | Lisa Marie Presley and Nicholas Cage are married at 6:30PM at Hawaii's Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows. (USA Today, p. 2D, 8/13/2002) | Ref: 13 |
- 2003
| Jul 30 | Sam Phillips record executive: Sun Records: The [Memphis] Million Dollar Quartet: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich; died July 30, 2003 | Ref: 4 |
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Elvis Presley Chronology