The Elvis Years: 1957

Documenting the life and career of history's most popular (and, many say, best) entertainer is a daunting task, because everything Elvis touched and everything he did seemed to make history by dint of his unprecedented fame. So I've taken the time to create a series that breaks The King's life up into one big year-by-year timetable, in order to better understand the forces that led to his rise and fall.

1957 saw Elvis Presley move quickly from American superstar to international phenomenon -- yet forces were already at work to neutralize and control the King. The year of "Jailhouse Rock," Graceland, and "Ed Sullivan" from the waist up proved also to sow the seeds of personal tragedy and professional crises.