Remembering Elvis Presley with our favorite songs

Elvis Aaron Presley was born January 8, 1935. He died of heart failure on August 16, 1977.

In his short 42 years of life, Elvis became known as “the King of Rock and Roll,” often referred to as simply “the King.” His music spanned multiple genres such as pop, country, rhythm and blues, gospel, rockabilly and honky tonk. He opened the door for the emergence of black music into white culture. He was arguably the catalyst for the rock and roll music and cultural revolutions. He was inducted into numerous Halls of Fames. He is considered one of the most influential music artists of the 20th century.

According to Billboard magazine, Elvis had 108 Billboard Hot 100 hits - the most among rock artists and third most among all acts; 80 Top 40 Hot 100 hits - the most in that category’s archives; 129 Billboard 200 charted albums - the most in that chart’s history; and spent 67 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 - the most time ever for a solo act. He is the best-selling solo artist in recorded music.

To honor the memory of Elvis for his 80th birthday celebration, I have compiled a top 10 list of my favorite Elvis songs. It was not an easy task to whittle his wealth of music down to 10 songs, so I sought the help of my sister Ellen, who is really the reason why I'm an Elvis fan. She was such a big Elvis fan that, let’s just say, she would surely have left home to run off and marry Elvis had he only asked. So here is a combination of my and Ellen’s top 10 favorite Elvis songs. These are in no particular order. They are all great songs.

Let me know in the comments below which of your favorites we left out. I know we had to have left out some of yours because, shoot, we left out some of mine! And some of Ellen’s!