Blend musical styles. Musicians and music historians credit Presley with melding black music forms like gospel and the blues to white genres like honky-tonk into something new -- rock 'n' roll. [Reference 2] Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones remembers Presley's music as a personal turning point. "Heartbreak Hotel" was, he writes, "the first rock and roll I heard...a totally different sound, stripped down, burnt." [Reference 3] Decades later, Eminem's rise as a critically acclaimed rapper with genuine street cred earned him accolades as the Elvis of rap. [Reference 4]
Sing with some swagger. As a rock vocalist, Presley's snarling, throaty baritone made a huge impact. Freddie Mercury of Queen, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen and many other singers have adopted the distinctive Elvis timbre, either in homage or in imitation. [Reference 2]
Display great range, both vocal and stylistic. Presley's tremendous vocal range remains a marvel of modern recorded music. His uncanny ability to land notes from bass to high tenor with force and emotion freed him to pursue musical interests in a variety of genres, including rock, country, gospel and standards. His broad taste won him fans across generations -- a trick that the Beatles would later imitate with similar success -- and helped legitimize rock 'n' roll in its early days. [Reference 2; Reference 5]
Feature electric guitar to provide the songs' intensity and musical drive. Presley's band, for more than a decade, centered on lead guitarist Scotty Moore, whose slap-back echo defined the rockabilly sound and whose twangy fills inspired such later musicians as Jeff Beck and Steve Earle. [Reference 6]
Strum an acoustic guitar to round out studio tracks and live performances. Presley himself provided acoustic rhythm guitar textures in many of his songs, as the Beatles' John Lennon and many others would later do. [Reference 6; Reference 7]
Shake the hip and curl the lip. Presley's stage presence exuded a sexuality that transformed popular culture and placed rock music at the center of the lives of teens and young adults. Performers in later decades would continue to emulate him -- Michael Jackson's crotch grab, Mick Jagger's strut and Billy Idol's entire persona all owed a debt to Elvis. [Reference 5; Reference 8]
Sell more records and more merchandise in more markets than any other rock star. Elvis Presley has sold at least a billion records worldwide and remains king of the U.S. pop charts, with more Top 40 and Top 10 hits than any other artist. [Reference 9; Reference 1] Presley's manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker, tightly controlled the star's image and was the first to successfully license a rocker's likeness, earning millions and establishing a lucrative new angle for the infant industry. [Reference 10]