1932–1998 · American rockabilly singer, songwriter and guitarist
Carl Perkins (1932–1998) was a founding figure of rockabilly who both wrote ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and recorded it first, in December 1955 for Sun Records. His version was a genuine hit — No. 2 on the pop chart, No. 1 country, and the first million-seller Sun ever had — so this is not a case of an unknown original being eclipsed. On 22 March 1956, driving to a national television appearance as the record surged, Perkins was badly hurt in a car crash that killed the other driver and put him in hospital, freezing his momentum at the worst possible moment. The song survived; the association with its author did not.