Acclaimed biographer Peter Guralnick returns with The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World, out now. The award-winning author of Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love delivers a groundbreaking dual portrait of the relationship between Elvis Presley and his legendary manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Drawing from the Colonel’s never-before-seen correspondence, Guralnick reveals the depth of their friendship, trust, and mutual ambition — and how their partnership defined an era of American music and celebrity.
Praised by The Wall Street Journal as “engaging… outlandish, tension-filled and brimming with mystery,” the book captures the complexity of both men. Guralnick traces their story from Parker’s first telegrams about a young Memphis singer to Elvis’s rise as a global superstar. With a narrative rich in insight and humanity, The Colonel and the King sheds new light on the bond between two misunderstood figures who changed popular culture forever. Through brilliance, humor, and heartbreak, Guralnick gives readers the full story of how a small-town teenager and a crafty showman built the legend of rock and roll.