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Top 10 Facts about the Death of Elvis Presley

Popularly known as the “King of Rock and Roll”, Elvis Presley was one of the most successful musicians of all time. Having sold over 500 million records worldwide, Presley is recognized as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records.

Born in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935, Elvis Presley was one of the most recognizable musicians in the world by the time of his death on August 16, 1977, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 42 years old.

Although Presley’s death was ruled to be a result of a heart attack due to his overuse of prescribed drugs, over 40 years later, it has continued to be a subject of conspiracy theories.

Lead more about Elvis Presley in this article

Here are the top 10 facts about his death

1. Presley’s Drugs abuse was blamed for his Death

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Like many performers of his generation, Elvis Presley had a history of prescription drug abuse and was a long-time abuser of opiates which is a strong pain-killer but also causes serious constipation. Other drugs he abused included antihistamines, barbiturates, Quaaludes, sleeping pills, and laxatives among others.

While the original autopsy report did not indicate whether drug abuse contributed in any to his Cardiac arrest, a pair of reports filed a few weeks later strongly suggested polypharmacy was the primary cause of death. One report indicated that fourteen prescription drugs were found in Elvis’s body system, ten of them in a very high-level quantity.

2. He was buried Next to his Mother

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Elvis Presley’s funeral was held at Graceland on August 18, 1977. It was a modest burial ceremony attended by Hollywood’s movies and music superstars, including Ann-Margret, James Brown, and George Hamilton.

The burial proceedings were led by the Wooddale Church of Christ pastor C.W. Bradley.  A group of musicians consisting of J.D. Sumner, the Stamps, and Kathy Westmoreland performed some of Presley’s favorite hymns.

Later that day, about 80,000 people lined the processional route to Forest Hill Cemetery, where Presley was buried next to his mother.

3. Elvis Presley found dead in his bathroom

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Elvis Presley died in his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, on August 16, 1977. He was discovered by his then-fiancée, Ginger Alden, who found him unconscious in their master bathroom.

Elvis was quickly rushed by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where he was ultimately declared dead at 3:30 PM following unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him.

He had been suffering from serious bouts of constipation due to a combination of his diet and excessive use of painkillers and had gone toilet sometime before he was found dead.

4. His death made news Headline around the World

Immediately after Elvis Presley was pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital at 3:30 p.m. on August 16, 1977, news of his death spread across the world in an instant. Special newspaper editions were issued and radio stations across the world immediately began to play his music records.

Prominent people and artists around the world issued statements eulogizing his death and praising the enormous contribution he had made towards the growth of pop music culture.  President of the United States, Jimmy Carter issued a statement that credited Presley with having “permanently changed the face of American popular culture”.

One of Presley’s cousins, Billy Mann, accepted US$18,000 (equivalent to $80,000 in 2022) to secretly photograph the body; the picture appeared on the cover of the National Enquirer’s biggest-selling issue ever.

Learn more about Elvis Presley  in this article

5. Presley’s Casket was opened for Public Viewing

On August 17, 1977, just one day after Elvis Presley’s death, the doors of his Graceland home were opened for public viewing of his body. Even in his death, Presley proved to be a true music legend after an estimated 100,000 people turned up for the viewing of his body.

The mourners ranged from pre-teens to middle-aged and older men and women. Many expressed genuine, open sorrow over his death. Others were more upbeat, almost festive, and eager to be part of the cultural history.

Due to the extreme temperatures on that day, the viewing was cut short for fear that extreme heat and humidity would disfigure Elvis’ body.

 6. The Tennessee Board of Health investigated his Death

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A few months after Presley’s death, the Tennessee Board of Health began an investigation into Presley’s death and initiated proceedings against doctor George C. Nichopoulos, who was Elvis Presley’s personal physician.

During the hearings, evidence was presented that Dr. Nichopoulos had written prescriptions for more than 8,000 doses of medication since 1975 and that the pattern had been escalating since then.

In his defense, Dr. Nichophoulos admitted to writing the prescriptions but claimed that Elvis was so addicted to painkillers that he prescribed the medications to keep Elvis away from dangerous and illegal street drugs, trying to control his addiction.

The jury agreed with the doctor’s rationale and absolved him of negligence in causing Presley’s death. In 1980, Dr. Nichophoulos was indicted again for overprescribing drugs to Presley and singer Jerry Lee Lewis but was acquitted.

7. There was an attempt to steal his Body

A few days after Elvis Presley’s burial in Memphis, Tennessee, police arrested three men after they attempted to steal Elvis’s corpse from his mausoleum. Raymond Green, Eugene Nelson, and Ronnie Adkins were all caught sneaking around Presley’s burial site.

During the interrogation, Adkins claimed the three were going to be paid $40,000 each for stealing the body and then hand it over to a mysterious person, who intended to demand $ 10 million ransom from the family.

Following the attempt, the remains of both Presley and his mother were exhumed and reburied in Graceland’s Meditation Garden on October 2.

8. Claims of Elvis Presley’s Sightings were reported long after his Death

Sightings of Elvis Presley have sometimes been reported since his death in 1977. The conspiracy theory that Elvis did not die and instead went into hiding was popularized by Gail Brewer-Giorgio and other authors.

The earliest known alleged sighting of Elvis was at the Memphis International Airport where a man resembling Elvis gave the name “Jon Burrows”, which was the same name Elvis used when booking hotels.

A series of other alleged sightings also took place in early and the late 1980s and were reported by various humorous publications. In California, many people believed to have seen Elvis at California’s Legoland amusement park in 1999, but it was later revealed that Elvis impersonators were hired as an attraction to commemorate the famous singer.

9. Elvis was scheduled to fly out for a Music Tour the same day he Died

In the weeks leading up to his passing, Elvis had been preparing for another tour and was scheduled to fly out of Memphis to begin another tour on the evening of Tuesday, August 16, 1977, the same day he died.

Presley was set to perform at the Cumberland County Civic Centre in Portland, Maine to kick off his new tour. He performed his final concert on June 26, 1977, at Indianapolis market square arena to an audience of 18000 people.

10. His House was opened to the Public after his Death

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Five years after his death, Elvis Presley’s home was opened to the public as a house museum. The site home was also listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, becoming its first site recognized for significance related to rock music.

Graceland was declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006, and first attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually. It is the second most-visited home in the United States, after the White House.

Read more about Graceland in this article