6. Elvis Presley
A singing, posturing, gyrating sensation, Elvis Presley was loved and desired in equal measure. Born in the countrified land of Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1835, Presleys humble beginnings were initially painfully injected with rejection by the music industry he so desperately wanted to crack. At first, music seemed to be a career out of his depth, as it was the only subject he failed to pass during high school, but a swaggering performance in his senior year, his first in front of a large audience, instilled belief into the young man that there were bigger things to come. Presleys musical education came from the radio, where he learned to copy and play songs by ear, particularly race records by black rhythm n blues musicians, there music providing him with the raw emotion and vitality that would typify his custom in the coming years. Its amazing to think that the young Presley was initially turned away by the bosses of Sun Records, their studios being where he cut his first tracks, who rather cruelly and wrongfully told him that he couldnt sing. However, the unrelenting Presley wouldnt give up on his dream and kept returning, eventually garnering the recognition he deserved when he whipped out a rendition of Arthur Crudrups Thats All Right, which was hastily recorded, cut, and released. Teenage listeners were soon captivated by the voice wailing out from their radio sets, and many people first thought that Presley was black, as his groovy, highly charged delivery was not a fashion associated with white vocalists. It wouldnt take long for the mania to set in, permeating through America and exciting youths all over, and Elvis initial breakout album and televised performances were something to marvel at. The man they would dub The King had an eventful and highly tumultuous excursion through the land of fame, but his enduring quality was matched by very few, and he was the inspiration for the next generation of aspiring rock stars that would flood the sixties.