On January 8, the "king of rock and roll" Elvis Presley could have turned 85 years old. We talk about how and why the legendary artist died - as well as what conspiracy theories many fans are building around his death, shrouded in secrets.
Relatives tried to help him
Elvis Presley, the “king of rock and roll,” one of the most famous musicians in history, who was imitated by men and idolized by women, led an unusually unhealthy lifestyle - which drove him to his grave at the age of 42. The artist had two really bad habits, but that was enough.
The first of them was a consequence of the star's active concert activity: over the years, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame frankly fizzled out, but - not wanting to slow down - he found a solution in stimulants that allowed him to perform much more often than he could.
Along the way, Elvis became addicted to various sedatives, through which he was able to recover (and simply sleep) in this crazy rhythm - albeit a globally given “explosive mixture” was rapidly destroying his health. At the same time, the performer himself did not consider himself a drug addict, justifying his addiction by the fact that he was not dependent on prohibited substances: he believed that, since he actively uses only drugs (albeit in titanic quantities), there is no huge problem in this.
One of the alarming "calls", which was supposed to be the final signal for the musician and his entourage, rang a few months before Elvis's death. According to the recollections of a close friend and hairdresser of the "king" Larry Geller, it happened in the first half of 1977, when Presley was on tour in Kentucky.
“Elvis had a high fever, nausea, that is, all the signs of the flu, and he did not sleep all night - the disease was extremely difficult for him. In the afternoon, a doctor who was traveling with us came to see him. Later we, together with Colonel Tom Parker (the artist's manager, who was later accused of Elvis's death, - they say, because of his own addiction to gambling, he absolutely did not care about the client's physical condition, not giving him a chance to rest - Gazeta. Ru) went to Presley and saw that Elvis was almost unconscious, groaning, was close to a coma. The doctor dipped his head in a bucket of cold water to wake him up.
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I thought, "Now Parker will understand how bad Presley is." But he just told me: “Listen to me, the only thing that matters is for this guy to come on stage today. And nothing else".
The second addiction of Elvis was gluttony, because of which a stately handsome man turned into an obese, openly neglected man, which, however, did not affect his popularity among women - endless charisma, status and fortune were more than enough. It got to the point that, shortly before his death, the musician's weight was more than 110 kg with a height of 182 cm. At times Presley tried to eat right, but he invariably gave up this business and found peace in his favorite fatty food. According to Lamar Fike, the star's personal security chief, Elvis "always ate to the bone."
“In the last years of his life, he began to overeat again. Once I told him: "What are you doing, you eat as much as you ate when you were young." And he admitted that he had never even thought about it,”said Fike.
As a result, by the age of 40, Presley had amassed many physical ailments: glaucoma, due to which he had to wear his famous glasses, stomach problems, high blood sugar, which led to leg problems, and mental illness caused by drug abuse.
With age, Elvis developed an excessive suspicion: he trusted only the closest people, became very suspicious, covered windows with foil or other materials that did not allow daylight to pass through (perhaps this habit was associated with an eye disease), and also became intolerant of heat.
In addition, in the last year of the musician's life, the list of his many problems was supplemented by worries about the release of the book "Elvis: What Happened?" Based on the stories of three of his former bodyguards, who spoke in detail about the singer's addiction. It is generally accepted that Presley thought with horror how his fans would perceive what he wrote and - especially - his own daughter Lisa Marie (by the way, she later became the wife of another "king" - Michael Jackson, and was also married to actor Nicholas Cage) … After the death of the artist, the book became a bestseller.
At the same time, Elvis's inner circle mostly tried to reason with the star, but he did not heed the advice: in particular, the artist's only wife, Priscilla, spoke about this.
“Everyone asks why no one helped him? It is not true. Relatives tried, but Elvis Presley could not be ordered. You would just be kicked out like a torn cat,”NME quotes her.
Last hours
At 8 p.m. on August 15, 1977, Elvis, who was soon to go on his second tour in a year - extremely exhausting for a musician given his health condition - went to the doctor for another dose of drugs in the company of his then girlfriend, 21-year-old Ginger Alden. cousin Billy Smith and his wife.
When Presley returned to his Graceland estate, one of the current attractions of Memphis, his team was gradually gathering there: the artist's assistants discussed the details of the tour with might and main, because the next day they were to fly to Portland. According to the recollections of the concert manager and friend of the singer Joe Esposito, the author of posthumous books about the "king of rock and roll", at about midnight he contacted Elvis, who decided to retire in one of the rooms of the mansion with Alden and Smith in order to settle everyday issues.
"He replied that he was doing well, his voice sounded quite cheerful," - said Esposito in an interview with the documentary "Elvis Presley: The Last Day."
That night - as on many others - Presley could not sleep. At about 4 a.m. on August 16, he invited his cousin to play racquetball. At one of the moments of the game, Elvis made an unsuccessful movement, as a result of which he bruised his shin: the game was over. As Smith said, after leaving the gym, Elvis fell into melancholy, sat down at the piano and sang his songs for 20 minutes - the clock was 6 in the morning.
Having finished playing the piano, the musician spoke to a relative. Among other things, he then said to him: “I will try to make this tour the best I have ever had. And now I'm going to sleep."
However, it was not so easy for Elvis to fall asleep this time - even despite the late hour. He rushed around the room and ended up telling his girlfriend that he wanted to read in the bathroom. At about 2 pm on August 16, Ginger, waking up and not finding Presley next to her in bed, rushed to the bathroom in panic, where she found the lifeless body of the "king" on the floor.
“I will never forget the horror that gripped me when I opened the bathroom door and saw Elvis lying on the floor. His face was crimson-red, his eyes were bloodshot,”the model said about those events.
Unable to bring the musician to his senses, the girl called Esposito, and a few minutes later the assistant was there. “I turned him over and immediately knew he was dead. But I still thought that he could still be brought back to life. We called an ambulance, and I told them where to go, but did not say who the victim was. He also tried to give him artificial respiration, but his mouth was compressed. I gave him a heart massage, it seemed to me that it lasted forever. People gathered in the house, it was some kind of hell."
Soon Elvis was taken to the hospital, but it was no longer possible to save him - half an hour after the body arrived at the clinic, the doctor notified Presley's relatives about his death.
The official reason for his departure was later called a heart failure. It was probably caused, among other things, by excessive intake of drugs - it is believed that shortly before his death, the star performer exceeded the already impressive dosage several times.
Given the scale of the musician's personality, it was almost impossible to hide information about his death from the public, and the environment was not going to do it. The news spread throughout the United States as soon as possible, the departure of the legendary singer was commented on even by the then President of the country, Richard Nixon, with whom the artist was personally acquainted.
Saying goodbye to the "king of rock and roll", the politician called Presley "the man who changed the face of American pop culture." In parallel with this, a posthumous photograph of Elvis lying in an open coffin leaked to the media: according to one version, the picture was taken by one of the musician's relatives. Later, he allegedly sold the photo to the National Enquirer tabloid for $ 18 thousand - the issue of the newspaper with the dead Presley on the cover became the best-selling newspaper in the history of the publication.
The funeral of the artist took place on August 18 in Memphis. According to eyewitnesses, about 80 thousand people came to see Elvis on his last journey. Then there were tragedies - during the funeral procession, one of the cars crashed into a group of fans, knocking down two women to death and seriously wounding a third. The remains of the artist were buried in the Forest Hill cemetery, but after a couple of weeks - after an attempt to kidnap Presley's corpse (or check the reality of his death) - relatives reburied the "king" in "Graceland".
Elvis is alive?
Despite the seemingly strong evidence of Elvis' death, many of his fans did not believe in the veracity of the idol's death, creating a huge number of adequate and not very conspiracy theories, according to which Presley either did not die at all on August 16, 1977, or was dying, but by no means due to reckless medication.
So, according to one of the versions, which more or less withstands criticism and does not contradict minimal common sense, the musician faked his own death by moving to Argentina (or other parts of the planet, including the most populated cities in the United States, there are many options).
He was allegedly seen on the day of his death at the airport buying a ticket, and "Elvis" was then so sure of the impeccability of his own plan that he even allowed himself to autograph a fan. The passions around the "unreliability" of Presley's death were also fueled by the media, who wrote that a certain John Burroughs flew to South America on August 17 - this was the pseudonym the singer used, wishing to remain incognito on trips.
Subsequently, "Elvis" got bored of permanently hiding from the world where he was (and remains) a star, which is why the musician allegedly began to appear and even perform in public places in the United States in his famous image, believing that people would take him for doubles and imitators, and also even noted in the crowd in one of the episodes of the movie "Home Alone". In addition, it is easy to find several pictures of the elderly "Presley" that were taken in "Graceland" on the Internet, but, firstly, absolutely different men are accurately captured on them, and secondly, to recognize them as the "king" after so many years (and also because of the dark glasses that hide the face and the thick beard) is almost impossible.
As for the most popular version, which does not deny the death of the artist, but also does not agree with the generally accepted conclusion, it is associated with the mafia.
They say that Presley, who openly spoke about his loyalty to the US government and personally to Nixon, secretly worked for the FBI and was going to engage in mass agitation against organized crime in the country, as a result of which the mafia decided to get rid of him by providing "support" in excess drug intake. On all the same "whales", another theory is built, claiming that the performer became a participant in the witness protection program, having undergone plastic surgery and received a new name from the Bureau.
Finally, one of the craziest versions is associated with UFOs: the press wrote that Elvis was fond of studying alien life, and unidentified flying objects were often seen over his house. In general, on August 17, Presley was taken by aliens - either as a potential threat, or as "their".
Author: Alexander Obnosov