Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi in a two-room shotgun house built by his father.In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his instructors regarded him as “average”.

He was encouraged to enter a singing contest after impressing his schoolteacher with a rendition of Red Foley’s country song “Old Shep” during morning prayers.

A few months later, Presley received his first guitar for his birthday; he had hoped for something else—by different accounts, either a bicycle or a rifle.

Presley, who never received formal music training or learned to read music, studied and played by ear.


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