John Lennon once said: "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been The Beatles."

- Pictures: Elvis: The Jumpsuit Years

Elvis Presley was the most important figure in 20th century popular music. He wasn't the first white rock 'n' roll singer - Bill Haley beat him to that. He wasn't the best - many would argue that Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard could claim that crown.

What Elvis did do was combine country and blues to forge rhythm and blues and then cap it with his great singing voice, style and attitude. He ignited the imaginations of countless people across the globe and was rewarded with the most successful career in popular music to date.

Nearly three decades after his death on 16 August 1977, Elvis continues to sell piles of CDs, with the ongoing re-release of his catalogue and the occasional reworking, such as the remixed A Little Less Conversation and Rubberneckin'.

"He was an integrator; Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn't let black music through. He opened the door for black music."
Little Richard

Early Elvis recordings were rockabilly in arrangement, but he gradually incorporated pop, gospel and soul to give him a much more mainstream appeal. Elvis' performances in the 1950s were explosive.

Audiences went wild as he gyrated, crooned and rocked out - all with a large dose of highly charged sexual energy. His TV appearances of the time were notable for being shot from the waist up to avoid offending the family audience.

"Rhythm is something you either have or don't have, but when you have it you have it all over."
Elvis Presley

Presley first put his voice on tape in August 1953, when he walked into Memphis' Sun Studio to record a demo disc. Producer Sam Phillips called him back the following summer, teaming him up with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black.

After some experimentation, the trio started to rock up the blues tune That's All Right, which became Elvis' first single. Sales success provided enough impetus for the trio to go out on the road, where Elvis' incredible stage presence and performances sealed his reputation as the top rock 'n' roller.

By 1955, Elvis had hit No 1 in the country charts with his final Sun single, I Forgot To Remember To Forget / Mystery Train, and the bigger record labels came calling, along with Colonel Tom Parker, the man that would manage Elvis for the rest of his career.

"A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage. It's my favourite part of the business... live concerts."
Elvis Presley

Signed to RCA for the then astronomical sum of $35,000, Elvis carried on where he had left off with Sun, as Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel and other singles set ever-increasing sales records. He was now a national star, and those 1956 sides represent some of the key rock 'n' roll recordings of all time.

"If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started it all off, and he was definitely the start of it for me."
Elton John

A new Hollywood career and a two-year break in the army marked a change in direction, as Elvis practically gave up live performance for the majority of the 1960s in favour of three or four films per year.

The sexual swagger had faded and the music began to take on more crooner stylings. As a creative force, Elvis took a back seat as the rock 'n' roll world he helped to build was taken over by a new generation of stars, most notably The Beatles, who wrote their own material.

"My voice is God's will, not mine."
Elvis Presley

However, in the late 1960s, Elvis' music and image were reborn, first with a 1968 TV special, where, clad in black leather, he returned to what he did best - good old fashioned rock 'n' roll.

An album the same year, From Elvis In Memphis - a mature but passionate mix of soul, blues and country - ushered in a new era, while the singles Suspicious Minds and In The Ghetto topped the charts.

"There was something just bordering on rudeness about Elvis. He never actually did anything rude, but he always seemed as if he was just going to. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate him 11."
Sammy Davis Junior

Elvis played more than 1,000 concerts between 1969 and 1977, both in his regular Las Vegas seasons and on tour around the United States. As the '70s went on, his shows took on increasingly showbizzy trappings, with capes, jumpsuits (see the pictures!), huge backing bands and karate high kicks very much to the fore.

A 1973 TV special set a new landmark as a show in Hawaii was beamed via satellite to a watching TV public estimated at 1.5 billion people. Sadly, after this incredible event, Elvis found himself beset by personal problems, isolation and too many distractions from music.

His death in 1977 at his Memphis home, Graceland, remains surrounded in mystery, but it's clear that those personal problems - over-eating, extreme weight gain and loss, and a dependency on prescription drugs - all contributed to his untimely demise at the age of just 42.

Elvis Presley harnessed the musical forces surrounding him in the southern United States and created some of the most compelling musical experiences of the mid- to late-20th century.

His contribution to popular music and influence, from those early recordings to his late-'60s rebirth, continues to outshine the films, the later overblown middle-of-the-road performances and kitsch memorabilia that sprang up around him. As he said himself: "Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside."

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