Elvis Presley: The King of Rock & Roll
"Before Elvis, there was nothing."- John Lennon
-Born January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi.
-Died August 16, 1977 in Memphis, Tennessee (42).
-Career: 1954-77
-Best Selling Solo Artist in the history of music with over 1 Billion records sold worldwide (400 from United States).
-3rd Best Selling Musical Artist in the United States based on RIAA Certification (beaten only by The Beatles, and Garth Brooks).
-Sold more than 123.5 million records in the United States.
-Most Gold Certified Albums (84).
-Most Platinum Certified Albums (46).
-2nd most Multi-Platinum Certified Albums (24, second only to The Beatles).
-Most Gold Certified Singles (54).
-Most Platinum Certified Singles (27).
-Most Multi-Platinum Certified Singles (8).
-Most UK #1 singles (22).
-Most top ten UK singles (77).
-Most Billboard Hot 100 entires (108).
-Most Billboad Top 40 Hits (104).
-2nd Most Billboard top 10 singles (36, second only to Madonna).
-2nd Most Billboard number-one hits (18, tied with Mariah Carey and behind The Beatles).
-Most cumulative weeks at Billboard's number one (79 weeks).
-2nd most Billboard number-two hits (5, behind only Madonna).
-In 1956 simultaneoulsy occupied the top two Billboard chart positions, a feat only accomplished by 10 other artist.
-Most charting singles for a solo artist in a single year (17 in 1956).
-Longest overall span of hits on the Billboard chart (First in 1956 with "Heartbreak Hotel" and last in 2003 with a remixed version of "Rubberneckin").
-Most "double sided" hit singles (in which each side reached the Top 40) with 26.
-Appeared in the Billboard Top 40 in 5 different decades (50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 00s).
-10th longest amount of time on Billboard's Country chart (17 weeks for "Heartbreak Hotel").
-Most #1 U.S. singles for a male solo artist.
-Had 6 songs that simultaneously topped both the Country and Pop charts.
-11 Billboard Country number one singles.
-6 Billboad R&B number one singles.
-7 Billboard Adult Contemporary number one singles.
-1 Billboard Christmas number one single (1964 Christmas songs could not chart on regular chart).
-149 songs on Billboard's 100 pop chart, 114 were in top forty, 40 were in the top ten, and 18 went to number one.
-14 Grammy nominations and 3 wins.
-At 36 recieved Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
-1970 United States Junior Chamber of Commerce named Elvis One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation.
-1986 inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1st year of inductees).
-1998 inducted into The Country Music Hall of Fame.
-2002 inducted into The Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
-2007 inducted into The Rockabilly Hall of Fame
-Aloha from Hawaii was the first concert broadcasted globally via satellite and was viewed by over 1.5 billion people.
-Starred in 33 movies, several of which were among the highest grossing films of their respected year (ex. Viva Las Vegas was the 11th highest grossing film of 1964).
-Released 102 singles, 30 extened play singles, and 74 albums in his lifetime.
-
Michael Jackson: The King of Pop
"I am so saddened by the loss of a great idol and icon, Michael Jackson. He was, to me, the greatest entertainer of all time. He was a huge inspiration for performers across all music genres. He taught us all how to light up the stage."- Randy Jackson
-Born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana.
-Died June 25, 2009 in Los Angeles, California (50).
-Career: 1964-2009 (went solo in 1971).
-800 million records sold worldwide.
-11th Best Selling Musical Artist in the United States based on RIAA Certification.
-Sold more than 69.5 million records in the United States.
-10th most Certified Gold Singles (16).
-5th most Certified Platinum Singles (9).
-12th most UK number one (7).
-40 top ten UK singles.
-4th Most Billboard number-one hits (13, behind Elvis, Mariah Carey, and The Beatles).
-4th most Billboard Top Ten singles (28, behind The Beatles, Elvis, and Madonna).
-5th most cumulative weeks as Billboars's number one (37 weeks, behind Usher, Boyz 2 Men, The Beatles, Mariah Carey, and Elvis).
-Most Billboard number ones from one album (5 from Bad)
-Most Billboard top ten songs from one album (7 from Thriller, shares record with Bruce Springsteen and Janet Jackson).
-2nd Most #1 U.S. singles for a male solo artist (13, behind only Elvis).
-13 number one R&B hits.
-Thriller Certified 29x platinum (matched only by The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits).
-Thriller is the best selling album in the world.
-Hold record for most Grammy's won in a single year (8 in 1984, now tied with Santanna).
-Won 15 Grammys overall.
-Recieved Grammy Lifetime achievement award in 2010.
-Most World Music Awards (15).
-Most Billboard awars for a male artist (26).
-First artist to sell 2 million downloads in a week (following death).
-Supported more charities than any other artist (39).
-Inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2001 and with the Jackson 5 in 1997.
-2002 inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
-2010 inducted into the National Museum of Dance Hall fo Fame (first Rock and Roll artist).
-10 studio albums, 1 Live album, 1 soundtrack.
George Strait: The King of Country
"Any of us who wear a hat, strap on a guitar and sing, we wanted to be him. We're talking about the ideal of the real country singer: someone who never compromised his music." - Brad Paisley
-Born May 18, 1952 in Poteet, Texas.
-12th Best Selling Musical Artist in the United States based on RIAA Certification.
-Sold more than 68.5 million albums in the United States.
-6th most Gold Albums (38, behind Elivs, Streisand, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Neil Diamond).
-3rd most Platinum Albums (33, behind Elvis and The Beatles).
-5th most Multi-Platinum Albums (13, behind The Beatles, Elvis, Garth Brooks, and Led Zeppelin).
-Holds world record for more #1 hit singles than any other artist in the history of music on any chart or in any genre.
-57 #1 hits thus far.
-Only artist in the history of music to have a top ten hit every year for thirty years.
-2nd all-time in top ten hits in the history of music with 83; Eddy Arnold has 92.
-Has won 22 County Music Association (CMA) awards, and holds the record for most wins and most nominations (81).
-Only country artist to win a CMA for Best Male Vocalist in two different decades.
-Holds the record for most Academy of Country Music (ACM) wins and nominations.
-ACA Artist of the Decade for the 2000s.
-Billboard's Top Country Artist of the past 25 years.
-Billboard's Top Country Artist in 86, 87, 96,
-Billboard's Most Played Artist (any genre) 1996.
-2003, ranked #9 on CMT's list of the 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.
-2006, inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame.
-2009, won a Grammy for Best Country Album.
-Has more Number One Albums, Gold Albums, and Platinum Albums than an other Country Artist.
-Starred in the 1992 film Pure Country.
-Has released 91 singles.
-25 studio albums, 2 live albums, and 1 soundtrack
Sadly both Michael and Elvis have left us (think if they had been alive at the same time), with no artist worthy to take their crowns yet (if you say Michael took Elvis' crown you are a fucking idiot). Each King commanded their particular kingdom in different times (George and Michael's do strongly overlap) and genres. Though it is hard to compare them, undoubtedly Elvis was the King of Kings, and despite Michael riding high on the "hey I just died a sad unexpected death train", don't buy into all the bullshit of him being artist of the Millenium or Century. Was Michael better than Bethoveen or Mozart, Fuck No, let alone Elvis. No doubt the guy was an amazing performer and musical artist, but I think we need to keep our modern place in history with some perspective...understand? Anyway, George Strait is still out there selling out stadiums, topping the charts, and rulling his Country Music Kingdom. Long live the king.
No comments:
Post a Comment