Elvis Presley Got a 'C' in His Eighth Grade Music Class

Before Elvis Presley became the King of Rock and Roll, he was just another kid at L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, Tennessee—and his music teacher wasn't impressed. In eighth grade, Elvis received a C in music class from Mrs. Elsie Marmann, who told him he had no aptitude for singing.

The irony is almost too perfect. The man who would go on to sell over a billion records worldwide, revolutionize popular music, and become one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century couldn't even manage a B in music class.

The Guitar Defense

Elvis didn't take the criticism lying down. Known for carrying his guitar to school, he brought it to class one day and performed "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me" and "Old Shep" to prove himself. Mrs. Marmann watched. She listened. And she remained unimpressed.

Despite his impromptu performance, the grade stuck. That semester, Elvis's report card showed:

• A in language
• B in physical education, spelling, and history
• C in arithmetic, music, and science

Not the Only Genius Who Struggled

Elvis joins a fascinating club of artists who were underestimated by their teachers. The Beatles were rejected by Decca Records with the assessment that "guitar groups are on the way out." Beethoven's music teacher called him hopeless as a composer. Even Einstein was told he'd never amount to much.

Mrs. Marmann's assessment wasn't entirely wrong for the context—Elvis wasn't singing traditional hymns or classical pieces that might have been part of the curriculum. He was already gravitating toward the blues, gospel, and country influences that would later fuse into rockabilly.

The Last Laugh

Elvis later joked about getting an "F" in music (exaggerating for comedic effect), but the official record shows a C. Still, that C became one of the most famous grades in music history.

By 1953, just a few years after that eighth-grade music class, Elvis would walk into Sun Records and pay $4 to record two songs as a gift for his mother. Within a year, he'd have his first hit. Within a decade, he'd be the biggest star in the world.

Mrs. Marmann lived long enough to see her former student's success. One can only imagine what she thought when "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" dominated the airwaves, performed by the same boy she'd once told couldn't sing. Sometimes a C doesn't mean average—it means the teacher was grading by the wrong rubric entirely.