![\"Elvis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Elvis-Presley-Singer-Actor-1968-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ MGM)<\/p>\n
Tue 3 March 2026 19:00, UK <\/p>\n
Elvis Presley<\/a> wasn\u2019t even that far into his career when he was dubbed \u2018The King\u2019. The moniker came as early as 1956, after his successful breakout with \u2018Heartbreak Hotel\u2019, when the Waco New Tribune called him the \u201c21-year-old king of the nation\u2019s rock \u2018n\u2019 roll set\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, \u2018Heartbreak Hotel\u2019 wasn\u2019t Presley\u2019s first single. It was his first on RCA, but the only reason he\u2019d even caught the major label\u2019s attention<\/a> was because of his earlier singles and the cult following they were bringing in. Already, Presley had a gaggle of girls screaming. Sure, they might have been tiny in comparison to the scales he would hit after, but they were still loud enough to get him noticed. <\/p>\n But Presley also caught attention because he had respect. By the time he was old enough, he was heading down to the blues capital of Beale Street in Downtown Memphis and watching jam sessions and begging to get involved. <\/p>\n Back then, Beale Street was bustling in its prime. The bars and clubs were overflowing, and so concerts also spilt out onto the street. For a young boy like Presley, it would have been a mecca of excitement and inspiration, but specifically, all of that was coming from Black artists<\/a>. <\/p>\n That was Presley\u2019s basis, and all of his singles before \u2018Heartbreak Hotel\u2019 were covers of tunes originally written by Black musicians. Even after his breakout, he\u2019d keep that up, taking tracks like \u2018Hound Dog\u2019 by Big Mama Thornton, or Ray Charles\u2019 \u2018I Got A Woman\u2019 and presenting them to white audiences, making himself a huge star in the process. <\/p>\n The eternal question has always been this one \u2013 did Presley realise that? Did he feel bad at all? One thing we do know is that there was at least some awareness, as \u2018The King\u2019 believed he should give up that title to the true hero and the one artist he knew he could never beat, better or even equal. <\/p>\n \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 roll was here a long time before I came along,\u201d Presley said in a 1957 interview with Jets Magazine, shining at least some light on the true origins of the genre he was suddenly a part of. He continued, \u201cLet\u2019s face it. I can\u2019t sing it like Fats Domino. I know that,\u201d shouting out one legend. <\/p>\n Fats Domino was still releasing music at the same time as Presley was, but obviously, while Presley was topping the mainstream chart, Domino was still relegated to only soaring to the top of the R&B charts. However, his impact is immeasurable as not only was Presley a devotee, but many of the 1960s rock bands that were emerging, such as The Beatles, later spoke of him as a key influence, as did The Rolling Stones, helping to craft their classic blues influence. <\/p>\n