Carl Perkins was born April 9, 1932 in Lake County, Tennessee. His recordings for Sun Records, along with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, stand as some of the most influential music ever recorded. "Blue Suede Shoes" released in 1956, was the first record to simultaneously top the country, pop, and R & B charts. Later, his brand of rockabilly music inspired a new generation of musicians including the Beatles, who recorded many of his songs including "Matchbox" and "Honey Don't".
In his later years, Perkins was active in community service in Jackson. In 1981 he founded a center for the prevention of child abuse (Exchange Club-Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse).
He received a Grammy Award for the 1986 album "Class of '55" recorded with Cash, Lewis, and Roy Orbison. That same year he received a Career Achievement Award from the Academy of Country Music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Carl Perkins died January 19, 1998, after a series of strokes. He is entombed at Ridgecrest Cemetery in Jackson.