Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: July 22, 2017
Caption: Elvis Presley
Additional Description: This 1976-88 portrait of Elvis Presley by R. W. Cowan hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“Elvis Presley grew up in the musical melting pot of Memphis, where his emerging talent was heavily influenced by local strains of pop, country, rhythm and blues, and gospel. As a young truck driver in 1953, he paid four dollars to record a song for his mother's birthday. Sun Records then the label of such other young talents as Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis soon signed him, and his first record, ‘That's All Right, Mama,’ was an instant hit. By 1956, thanks in part to a series of sensational television appearances, he was crowned the ‘king of rock and roll,’ with a string of recordings that included ‘Heartbreak Hotel,’ ‘Don't Be Cruel,’ and ‘Hound Dog.’ Since his death, Presley has emerged as an iconic entertainment figure, and his Graceland mansion has become one of the nation's most-visited popular culture shrines.” -- National Portrait Gallery
Submitted: July 24, 2017, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p391221
File Size: 1.319 Megabytes

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