Billy Lee Riley

Lean mean rockabilly cat Billy Lee Riley produced two stone-cold classics of the genre with "Red Hot" and "Flying Saucer Rock & Roll," both of which were recorded at famed Sun Studio. Backed by his space-age band, the Little Green Men, Riley personified the wild rockabilly sound and style during the 1950s, but he played second fiddle to the likes of Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and, of course, Elvis Presley. Riley drifted into studio work after the original rock & roll explosion faded, but was resurrected in the '70s when the first rockabilly revival took place. He became an elder statesmen of the scene, and remained one until his death in 2009.