Who was the most famous rock and roll artist to come out of Memphis? (There's only one King)
Who was the most famous rock 'n' roll artist to come out of Memphis, Tennessee?
That's a question with an easy answer: Elvis.
It's especially easy because the answer remains the same even as the question becomes broader.
Who is the most famous rock 'n' roll artist, period?
Answer: Elvis.
Maybe the answer could be "The Beatles," if a collective of artists can be considered an "artist."
Maybe Michael Jackson? Taylor Swift?
Even they likely may not have the international, cross-generational recognition of the so-called "King of Rock 'n' Roll."
ELVIS AT OVERTON PARK: Inside the historic 1954 concert that launched the King's career
Born Jan. 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis relocated to Memphis with his parents when he was 13.
He first found fame here in 1954 after recording the 20-plus songs that make up the so-called "Sun Sessions," which led him to RCA and to Hollywood and to Las Vegas.
Yet Memphis — and, more specifically Graceland, the mansion he bought in 1957 — remained his home until his death on Aug. 16, 1977, at the age of 42.
As Elvis said in a 1960 interview, after his return home from the Army: "You'll never know how happy I am to be here. Somebody asked me this morning what did I miss about Memphis, and I said, 'Everything.'"
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Who was the most famous rock and roll artist to come out of Memphis?
