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Why was Elvis Presley called the King of Rock 'n Roll?

Alright, so today's the 28th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. What I have never figured out is: why is he considered the "king" of rock 'n roll when there have been so many better rockers since then? What's your opinion?

Dave's Answer:

Ah yes, we should all stop and pause for a moment to remember Elvis Presley. Not the strung-out overweight sad sack after he and Priscilla split up in 1973, but the young, vibrant man who brought rock 'n roll to the masses in the 50's. Prior to Elvis, remember, it was primarily black musicians who were championing this radical new form of music, but without much success. Much more popular in the late 40's and early 50's were performers like crooner Frank Sinatra, who was a wonderful singer but boring by comparison.

While there have been better musicians since Elvis - and certainly better overall performers - Presley brought a sense of showmanship, of being the center stage in a way that the big bands and 40's singers never did. And he brought sex on stage, with his pelvic gyrations and dance steps that shocked and titillated youngsters while horrifying their parents. (Rock hasn't lost that aspect either, though the cutting edge has splintered into punk, industrial, metal, and various other genres that continue to excite the audience and horrify their parents to this day)

June 5, 1956 was the first time that Elvis Presley really scandalized the public, specifically the audience of the The Milton Berle Show, with suggestive hip movements while performing his second RCA single "Hound Dog." Television critics across the country slammed the performance for its "appalling lack of musicality," "vulgarity" and "animalism", but this was the first appearance that generated significant publicity and, of course, his primary audience, teen girls, were too busy swooning to see anything vulgar in what Elvis was doing on TV.

In his long, illustrious career, Elvis Presley had over 110 top 40 hit singles, including 18 number one songs. He also starred in 31 motion pictures, notably Jailhouse Rock, Blue Hawaii, Viva Las Vegas and King creole. No other performer has come closer to this amazing record of success and critical acclaim.

So is Elvis still the King of Rock 'n Roll? Oh yeah!

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Comments

Elvis blows. He was the court jester of rock and roll. Didn't write his own songs....couldn't play guitar for shit and bailed out of "rock and roll" as soon as those crappy movies and Vegas offered more money. Wanted to spy on teenagers for J. Edgar Hoover (crazy). There are so many real kings of rock and roll and he ain't one of them.

Posted by: gwd at July 24, 2006 4:20 PM

Blows? Give me a break. Elvis brought it live and paved the way for every other rocker to come after him. Yes the blacks were truly first and felt their music like no one else but it wasn't in the stars for them to achieve what Elvis brought to the world. (He never denied that he got his 'feeling' from black music) He could play a guitar but didn't have to, that's not what we needed or wanted from him anyway. As far as spying on kids....GROW UP, haven't we all done something out of character? Let that rest. As far as KING,...I agree there is but one king and he happened long before civilization but Elvis was a true pioneer for the music industry. A 'road paver', and without him, the ones to follow wouldn't be who they are!

Posted by: Susan at September 4, 2006 10:53 AM

I was brought to this country April of 1961. As a little boy of 5 years i had a hard time relating to my surroundings and understanding the language. But then i heard a sound coming out of my big brohters transister radio it was Rock&Roll
and the song i heard was that of a man singing "It's Now or Never" i later saw him on TV and thought, what a beutiful man!!
That was over 46 years ago and i bet 50 years from now he will still be know as "El Rey"!!

Posted by: "El Rey" at February 5, 2007 4:19 PM

"Before Elvis there was nothing"
Who said that..?
answer... John Lennon!
All you have to do is look at the music before ELvis.
Every Rocker since "The King" owes his success to him.. like it or not!

Posted by: Fernando at February 10, 2007 11:52 PM

To even think that Elvis isn't King is utterly sickening to read. Let's face it, those small few who rip him because of his weight problems and his bout with prescription drug addiction, seem to think they have never done a damn thing wrong in their lives !! Elvis Presley was human, I mean my goodness, I'm sorry the man wasn't a perfect person like you critics who think you walk on water are. Like or not, history records the achievements this man as accomplished and you can't take away from record setting & record breaking concert attendance throughout the 1970's. not to mention the grueling grind of performing 2 & 3 shows a night sometimes 15 straight days/nights in a row. If you think your going to be a picture of perfect health trying to keep up with that hectic schedule your a flat out liar ! The man did over 1000 concerts in the 70's, more than any rock star or group to this day so, if he was so whacked out on drugs like some of you people think he was, think again, it would be impossible to stand on ones feet if you are stoned all the time. Give Elvis his due credit, he is and always will be the King of Rock & Roll !! Get over it....

Posted by: Dan at March 30, 2007 7:59 PM

elvis was just a ordinary man. yes he did great things and women swooned. but he is called king by many people. BUT THEIR IS ONE KING ONLY AND THAT IS JESUS CHRIST. AND HE SAYS HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME. elvis is like every other musician he is not any better than any one else. these musicians are not GODS to be worshipped by people. they are just for entertaining.

Posted by: CANDI at August 18, 2007 12:03 AM

Elvis is not King and in any regard close enough to be King... The way i see it is that Bill Haley released a song in 1953 and Elvis didn't release a song until 1954... SO that alone explains that by far, Bill Haley is the RIGHTFUL KING... BUT if you can find out that someone released a song before Bill Haley, then they in turn are the RIGHTFUL KING OR QUEEN of rock n roll... So to ANYONE that believes that Elvis Presley is KING... Do your research and you will be SURPRISED that he is not the so called king that you BELEIVED he was...

TO THE KING: BILL HALEY

Posted by: Punisher at August 25, 2007 4:02 AM

Elvis was called to heaven because god wanted to stand down, who better to take his place. ELVIS IS GOD!!!

Posted by: jaydog at September 6, 2007 9:43 AM

At one of Elvis Concerts a Lady Yelled Out
" Elvis You are the KING! "

Elvis screamed back " No I'm Not - There's Only One King!

But..
REMEMBER THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elvis IS The """ KING OF ROCK N ROLL! """

Posted by: steve lynch at October 24, 2007 2:01 AM

Elvis has sold more records than anyone, even after his death. I own several of his 45's from the 1950's, and I own all of his gospel music from the albums he made in 1967 and 1968. His Christmas music from 1957 has sold 9 million copies.

Posted by: Gloria Hutchins at December 22, 2007 9:20 PM

why hello there. elvis the pelvis was a cool cat. Much like yourself for making this website. =]

Posted by: Stephanie at January 7, 2008 6:18 AM

LITTLE RICHARD IS THE KING OF ROCK.POINT BLANK

Posted by: deezy at May 7, 2008 1:03 AM

All the greatest intertainers black, white, brown, yellow, have at one time praised the talents of Elvis. Let's see; Rick Nelson, The Beatles, Creedence clearwater Rivival,Elton John, James Brown, Eddie Murphy, Even famous fighters like Alli, Tommy "Hit Man" Hearns have admitted to being Elvis fans. Elvis set records that still have not been touched! a good example is his concert back in the early 70's "Alohoa From Hawaii" were 1 billion people all over the world witnessed his greatness.
I bit a lot of you that put him down were not even alive back then.
Elvis is and will always be "The King"

Posted by: alberto at August 15, 2008 12:23 PM

I have a lot to say, but ...

I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!