Elvis Presley - 24 pictures

This contest is fueled by the following news: The King of Rock and Roll -- Elvis Presley -- was an iconic American singer, actor and musician. He remains regarded by some people as the most original and important original entertainer of the last 50 years. There is very little doubt that Elvis Presley remains the most talked about and written about entertainer and performer of the 20th century. He is also the most commercially successful singer of rock and roll as well as country, gospel, blues, ballads, pop, folk, jazz and even some semi-operatic numbers. His voice has a unique quality and tonality. He was able to attack a wide range of songs that was almost impossible for other singers. During his career, Presley set many, many records -- including concert attendance, record sales and television ratings. He became one of the best selling artists in all of music history. In the later part of the 1960s, Elvis Presley emerged as a live performer. He performed both on tour and in Las Vegas. He continued to draw in huge audiences. The number of concert performances that he engaged in was staggering -- an amazing 1,145 concerts in the eight years from 1969 to 1977. He performed to sell out audiences until his untimely death in 1977. He was 42 years old when he died. His passing came as a huge shock to his devoted and loyal fans. It did soon become clear that obesity, depression, over work, bad diet and an abuse of prescription medications contributed to his early death.