In 1955, Elvis Presley was nowhere near the superstar America would soon know. He was a 20-year-old Sun Records singer traveling with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black on Hank Snow’s touring show. When publicist Mae Boren Axton met him during the Florida dates, Elvis and his group were reportedly earning just $50 for an appearance.
Axton remembered a hungry young singer driving a beat-up car and worrying more about his parents than fame. She was moved enough to help with supper and lodging. But what really convinced her that something extraordinary was happening came when Elvis finished performing and a wave of excited young fans went looking for him backstage.
Mae Boren Axton Interview Elvis Presley in 1955
At a Jacksonville appearance on May 13, Elvis jokingly told the girls he would see them backstage. They took him seriously. Fans began pouring into the locker-room area through an open window. Axton heard the commotion and rushed toward the showers with police officers, where she found Elvis trying desperately to escape the crowd.
Axton recalled Elvis perched above the shower area looking frightened while fans tore at his clothing. His shirt and coat were damaged and people had even taken his belt and socks. For Axton, watching that frenzy surrounding a singer who was still barely known nationally made one thing suddenly obvious: this young man was going somewhere enormous.
Hear the Song Mae Axton Helped Give Elvis After That Early Breakthrough
Axton soon became even more important to Elvis’s story. She and Tommy Durden wrote “Heartbreak Hotel” later in 1955 and Axton personally presented it to Elvis. He loved the song and recorded it at his first RCA session on January 10, 1956. It went on to become his first No. 1 pop hit and helped turn the promise Axton had already witnessed into national superstardom.
Elvis Presley would eventually change popular music with “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock” and performances that made him the King of Rock and Roll. But Mae Axton saw the phenomenon forming before most of America knew his name. One night she found a frightened young Elvis trying to escape screaming fans. Months later, she helped hand him the song that would change everything.