"While he was never associated with punk rock in any direct sense, rock 'n' roll would sound very different today without having had Sam Phillips as its guiding hand in the early years. The owner of Sun Records, a small Memphis recording studio and record company during the 1950s, Phillips discovered Elvis Presley in 1954, releasing five astonishing singles with Presley before selling his contract to RCA for $35,000 in 1956 (equivalent to a little more than $200,000 today). Phillips then went on to discover Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Billy Lee Riley, Charlie Rich, Sonny Burgess, and a host of other performers; all but cornering the market on rockabilly - a mixture of blues and country which was the punk rock of its day - and providing the template by which every indie record company has operated since. Sam Phillips passed away in Memphis on Wednesday at the age of 80, having been in declining health for the last year."
Our condolences go out to family and friends of the influential label owner.