Rocker for all times

Elvis Presley plays at the top of the music charts even 28 years after his death. Saurabh & Gaurav remember the King of Rock ’n’ Roll

THE US rock legend, Elvis Presley, who would have celebrated his 70th birthday on January 8, was back at the top of the British pop charts yet again with a re-release of his 1958 classic Jailhouse Rock. The single became the 999th number one in the 52-year history of the British pop charts. Elvis's record label, SonyBMG, is releasing all 18 of his previous number one British singles in the chronological order week-by-week to mark the 70th birthday celebrations.

Even today the King continues to rule the music charts with his iconic hit Jailhouse Rock, his 19th UK No.1 single. It was the title song of Presley's third film made in 1957 in which he played an ex-convict who becomes a teenage rock star.

Presley's unparalleled contribution to popular music sprang from his ability to combine white country and western music with black rhythm and blues, the basic formula underpinning rock and roll. He performed this music with a signature style that made him a teen idol and role model for generations of cool rebels.

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was discovered in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1953 by Sam Phillips, who heard a record that Presley had made privately for his mother. Phillips, the president of Sun Records, had been searching for a White singer who could sound like a Black, and in 1954 he released Elvis's first single, That's All Right Mama backed by Blue Moon of Kentucky. The combination proved to be highly successful and by 1956 Elvis was the most popular performer in the USA. Before long, he was the most popular performer in the world.

In 1956, Elvis Presley scored his first hit with Heartbreak Hotel. He went on to become one of the most important figures in the world of music, with dozens of international hits and 33 feature films to his credit. The latest estimates say that Elvis has sold more than one billion records worldwide, more than anyone in music history.

In the US alone, 149 of his albums and singles have been certified gold or platinum.

A poll carried out by royalty payments group, the Performing Rights Society, has revealed that past hit The Wonder of You is the most performed Elvis song by live bands and tribute acts.

As Campbell, the noted scholar of English literature, once said there may never be another Elvis for two reasons: "You don't have a Shakespeare or a Milton all that often. And even if there's somebody out there as talented as Elvis, it's harder to pull off the kind of fusion of cultures Elvis was able to."

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