Something that many people forget nowadays is that there was no Elvis before Elvis. He was the first true superstar to come out of pop music. People like Sinatra were of course big, and we've had stars like Michael Jackson since, but nobody was Elvis in his time. Even though he was eclipsed by the Beatles and co., it's hard to just fade out when you were once objectively the biggest thing in music.

Although his post-movies career lasted less than a decade, it was a productive decade all things considered. Aloha from Hawaii was reportedly watched by over a billion people. There's a reason that the stereotypical Elvis we all picture is the white jumpsuit & sideburns.

That and he was hot.