The ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ Photo, With Elvis and Other Icons, Was Taken 69 Years Ago
The gathering of legends was so groundbreaking that a musical about the experience later hit Broadway.
Dec 4, 2025 7:10 PM EST
By Will Sayre
Entertainment Writer, Parade
Key Points
The 'Million Dollar Quartet' jam session happened at Sun Studio, Memphis, on Dec. 4, 1956.
Recordings and photos of Elvis, Cash, Lewis and Perkins are still available decades later.
The session inspired an acclaimed stage musical and celebrated classic music and artists.
On this day in 1956, four music legends jammed out in one monumental studio. Luckily, the gathering was captured on celluloid.
The “Million Dollar Quartet” session, as it came to be known, took place at Sun Studio in Memphis on Dec. 4, 1956. The photograph of the icons — Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins — was thankfully preserved for fans to enjoy decades later, as seen at the top of this article.
The session was an impromptu jam, and the photo was taken by George Pierce for the Memphis Press-Scimitar — which ultimately dubbed it “The Million Dollar Quartet,” South Coast Repertory reports. The rest is history.
The epic recording was first released in Europe in 1981 as The Million Dollar Quartet, with 17 tracks. More tracks were later discovered and released as The Complete Million Dollar Session. In 1990, the recordings were released in the U.S. as Elvis Presley: The Million Dollar Quartet, with the foursome’s legacy able to truly live on from there.
As AllMusic.com notes, more than half the material heard on the final, 41-track release consists of gospel music, and there are also versions of Chuck Berry‘s “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man” and “Too Much Monkey Business,” as well as some classic country songs penned by Hank Snow, Gene Autry and Bill Monroe.
Then came the stage musical adaptation, which was only a matter of time. With a book by Floyd Mutrux and Colin Escott, Million Dollar Quartet dramatizes the session and first premiered at Florida’s Seaside Music Theatre. It was then staged at Village Theatre in Issaquah, Washington, in 2007 — and would break box office records. The Broadway production then opened at the Nederlander Theatre on April 11, 2010.
Another Presley milestone happened this week, on the topic of “the King.” His ’68 Comeback Special just turned 57, and the televised event was historic for its ability to resurrect his career — but the hidden drama and secrets behind it are even more interesting. Find out more here.
About the author
Will Sayre
Entertainment Writer, Parade
Will Sayre is an entertainment writer specializing in industry updates and film development. With over a decade of experience, he knows the ins and outs of Hollywood news and aims to make the latest pop-culture headlines easy to digest for everyday readers.
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