Ella Fitzgerald vs Elvis Presley
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Ella Fitzgerald | Elvis Presley | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Composer | Composer |
| Born | 1917 | 1935 |
| Died | 1996 | 1977 |
| Country of birth | United States | United States |
| Star sign | Taurus | Capricorn |
Who they are
Ella Fitzgerald
On the night of November 21, 1934, a seventeen-year-old girl walked onto the stage of the Apollo Theater in Harlem for Amateur Night and froze. She had entered intending to dance — she was a known dancer among her friends in Yonkers — but when she looked out at the audience, something failed. She stood there, in a dress borrowed from a friend, in shoes that didn't fit, before an audience that was already restless. Then she opened her mouth and sang. The audience went quiet. She won first place. The bandleader Chick Webb heard…
Full biography of Ella Fitzgerald →
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley entered the world on January 8, 1935, in a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo, Mississippi, born minutes after his identical twin brother, Jesse Garon, who was stillborn. That early brush with loss seemed to imbue the surviving twin with an extra measure of life — a presence so magnetic, so physical, so inexplicably charged that it would eventually stop a nation in its tracks. Elvis Presley did not simply become a pop star. He became the moment when American music changed forever.
Full biography of Elvis Presley →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
- Same sub-field: Composer.
- Both born in United States.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- 18 years separate their births (1917 and 1935).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Ella Fitzgerald or Elvis Presley?
- Ella Fitzgerald. Ella Fitzgerald was born in 1917, Elvis Presley in 1935.
- What field is each of them in?
- Ella Fitzgerald is filed under Music (Composer). Elvis Presley is filed under Music (Composer).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.