by Melody Landeros

Created on: July 15, 2009

"I ain't no saint, but I've tried never to do anything that would hurt my family or offend God...I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world." Elvis Presley commenting to a reporter, 1950's.

Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll will forever be immortalized by his songs such as "Hound Dog," "Return to Sender," and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" Elvis with his boyish good looks and gyrating hips arrived on the music scene in a transition time for music. Girls cried and swooned, and the older generation frowned their disapproval of his sensual body movements when he sang. Does he have more influence than The King of Pop? More than thirty years after his death, the King of Rock and Roll continues to set the standard for many musicians.

Elvis sold more than billion records and no other entertainer has surpassed him in sales. In his career Elvis produced one hundred and fifty albums. He had eighty-one albums, fifty-three singles and sixteen extended play albums. Elvis sang rock and roll, country, and gospel. He received fourteen Grammy nominations and received three Grammys for his music. His concerts are legendary, and who can forget the controversy around his performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show?" "The Ed Sullivan Show" filmed Elvis from the waist up because television censors would not allow the legendary gyrations of his lower body.

Yet Elvis started singing with gospel music in the South in churches. He recorded gospel music that exposed mainstream Elvis fans to the eloquence of his voice as a gospel singer. Elvis singing "You Saw Me Crying In The Chapel" or Peace In The Valley," brings many a tear to a listener's eyes. People may be surprised to learn Elvis depended on gospel music to relax him. Others may not be aware that one of his most famous recording sessions in 1956 was with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis singing gospel music. Talk about major musical talent all together in one room, here were five of the greatest singers of their time singing gospel.

Charles Caleb Colton said, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." His music is immortalized more than fifty years later, by legions of Elvis impersonators who entertain people worldwide. The Elvis impersonators come from all walks of life, as young as four, thin, obese, tall, short, and from many races. They keep the King

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