Sam Phillips the first investors in Holiday Inn, a motel chain that was about to expand to a nationwide franchise; he became involved with the chain shortly after selling Elvis Presley's contract to RCA, for $35,000, which he multiplied many times over the years with Holiday Inn. He also created two subsidiary recording labels, Phillips International Records and Holiday Inn Records. He owned the Sun Studio Café in Memphis. One location was in the Mall of Memphis. Phillips and his family founded Big River Broadcasting Corporation, which owns and operates several radio stations in the Florence, Alabama, area, including WQLT-FM, WSBM, and
Sam Phillips (musician) the name "Sam" professionally in 1988 when she left Myrrh Records and signed with Virgin Records in order to distance herself from her prior persona. With "The Indescribable Wow" Philips moved into mainstream music. The album featured the orchestrations of Van Dyke Parks. "Cruel Inventions" was released in 1991, and included a guest performance by Elvis Costello. 1994's "Martinis and Bikinis" was widely praised by music critics and was nominated for a Grammy Award; her second nomination (the first was as Leslie Phillips). In 1995, Phillips made her film acting debut as the mute terrorist Katya in the Bruce Willis