For country music, the coming of Elvis was a disaster

For country music, the coming of Elvis was a disaster. As the standard soundtrack for many Southern homes, country music bound generations together. That began to end with the coming of rock ‘n’ roll. At first, the music industry regarded artists such as Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the Everly Brothers as country acts who happened to have special appeal for the kids. But as these artists increasingly dominated the Top 10 country charts, pushing out adult artists, country record promoters began to demand that the trade magazines get the young rock ‘n’ rollers off the country charts before they destroyed the essence of country music. By the end of the 1961, Elvis and the Everly Brothers were gone from the country charts.

M. Kosser, How Nashville became Music City USA (2006), 37