Fact #93084
When:
Short story:
Elvis Presley collapses while sitting on his toilet in Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, after ingesting a cocktail of drugs including Morphine, Demerol, Chloropheniramine, Placidyl, Valium, Codeine, Ethinamate, Quaaludes and an unidentified barbiturate. He dies later in the day at the Baptist Memorial Hospital.
His death will inspire numerous songs including Elvis Ain't Dead by Scouting For Girls, Elvis Is Dead by Peter And The Test Tube Babies, Elvis Is Dead by Living Colour, Dead Elvis by The Doug Anthony All Stars, Dead Elvis by Michael Daugherty and The Day Elvis Died by Boxcar Willie.
His death will inspire numerous songs including Elvis Ain't Dead by Scouting For Girls, Elvis Is Dead by Peter And The Test Tube Babies, Elvis Is Dead by Living Colour, Dead Elvis by The Doug Anthony All Stars, Dead Elvis by Michael Daugherty and The Day Elvis Died by Boxcar Willie.
Full article:
Ginger Alden (girlfriend) : I tried to slap Elvis’s face and it was like he breathed once when I turned his head. I opened one of his eyes and it was just blood red. I couldn’t move him. I called Joe Esposito and when he turned Elvis’s head over, I think he knew he was dead because he didn’t want me to see him and sent me to another room.
Vernon Presley (father of Elvis Presley) : There was never any sign of life after he collapsed. I tried to get him to speak and breathe.
Ulysses Jones (medical technician) : As many as a dozen people huddled over the body of a man clothed in pyjamas. From his shoulders up, his skin was dark blue. Around his neck, which seemed fat amd bloated, was a very large medallion. His sideburns were grey. A middle-aged woman was giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a young man was pressing on his chest. I knelt down and checked his pulse. There was none.
(Source : National Enquirer, date uncertain)
Charlie Crosby (Medical technician) : It took five of us to lift him. The pyjama top was unbuttoned all the way down. I could see great big rolls of fat on his belly.
(Source : National Enquirer, date uncertain)
Vernon Presley (father of Elvis Presley) : I was with him when they took him to the hospital. He was probably dead when he collapsed.
Dr. George Nichopoulos (personal physician) : The body showed no indications of drug abuse.
Jerry Weintraub (concert promoter) : I was at home and he was supposed to start a tour for me the next day in Maine and my telephone rang and it was Joe Esposito on one line. I don't know if he remembers this, but it was Joe, and he said, "Jerry, I got to talk to you", and my other line rang and I said, "Hold on one second, Joe". And I hit the other line, it was Roon Arledge from ABC news and he said to me, "Jerry, Elvis is dead".
And I said, "What? What?" I said, "Hold on", and I got back on with Joe. I said, "Joe, what’s the matter?" Joe said, "I'm in the bathroom with Elvis. He just died. He hadn't gone. They hadn't taken him away yet". He said, "I just want you to know because your phone is gonna start ringing". I said, "It's already rung. Roon Arledge is on the phone".
Joe was a disaster. You know, he was a complete wreck. He lost his best friend and he couldn't believe it. I mean, he was totally bummed out. It got worse and worse when we got to the funeral and all that stuff, but Joe knew he had to handle it. You know, there was nobody else that was gonna handle it besides Joe. He had to get in there and take care of things and he did.
Roon Arledge knew because the minute they call 911, you know, it goes out on the air and the police know and it goes on the police radio and the television people and the associated press know and it takes about one second especially for someone like Elvis.
James Burton (guitarist in Presley’s band) : We’d got a call for the next leg of the tour and were on a plane from Vegas to Portland, Maine, for the first show. Half an hour into the flight, the pilot came on the intercom. ‘We’ve been asked to return to Las Vegas. We’re going to stop and re-fuel.’ We stopped in a little town called Pueblo, Colorado, USA. Marty Harrell, the trombone player, said, ‘I’m going to call Vegas, find out what’s going on.’
The first thing that came to my mind was that Elvis’s dad Vernon had been sick. He had heart problems. But Marty came back with tears in his eyes, put his arm around me and said, ‘Elvis passed away.’ Chills went all over me. It was such a shock. I was thinking, how can this be? Elvis is so young. It’s not just losing the world’s greatest talent and showman, but just one of the most wonderful guys you could ever meet.
DJ Fontana (Presley’s drummer) : I was at Sun studios in Nashville. Shelby Singleton had bought the label from Sam and we were cutting somebody up here. It was about four or four-thirty. Shelby come back on the talkback and said, ‘DJ, we just heard on the radio that Elvis has passed away.’ I said, ‘No, we’ve heard that before.’ We had heard that before and it was never true.
So he said, ‘You wanna call the session and we’ll finish up tomorrow?’ I said, ‘No, let’s finish up what we have to do. I’ll try and get someone on the phone when I get home.’
I couldn’t find a soul because everybody was heading towards Memphis. All the numbers I had, everybody was gone, it was out of pocket. I finally got a hold of george Klein and George said, ‘Yeah, that’s true, DJ, everybody is on the way.’ It was terrible. A young man like that you don’t think is gonna pass that soon anyhow.
Otis Blackwell (composer of several Presley hits) : I was in a friend's studio helping him
put a tape together when a buddy of his called and told him about it. He said, "I got
some news for you. It's bad news in one respect and good news in another. Do you
want me to tell you now or later?"
I said ‘Later,’ because I was in the studio when President Kennedy was killed and also
when Martin Luther King was killed, so I know what effect bad news can have on a
session.
When the session was over and he told me, at first I thought he was joking. Then I saw that he wasn’t, but it really didn’t hit me until I laid down to get some sleep. Then I got a feeling all through me.
The one other time that I experienced those feelings was when my mother died ... and
my son. It wasn't because he wouldn't be doing any more of my songs. It was like...
a piece of me … it was like a piece of the whole business. I mean some people you
just figure are never going to die. Inside, man, they'll always live.
Jerry Weintraub : I jumped on a plane immediately for Memphis and went down there and it was pretty tough. It was pretty tough to see him laid out dead in the living room and then when I got there I had a meeting with his father and the Colonel and a whole bunch of people were there.
John Stafford (journalist) : Soon after Presley's death, I was talking with Carl Perkins and somebody happened to say that they thought Colonel Parker was a genius, to which Carl replied, "I guess if you call driving a boy to his grave at forty two a genius, then he was a genius."
Farida McFree (girlfriend of Bob Dylan) : I was with Bob the night Presley died. He really took it very bad. He didn’t speak for a couple of days. He was really grieving.
Bob Dylan : I went over my whole life. I went over my whole childhood. I didn’t talk to anyone for a week after Elvis died. If it wasn’t for Elvis and Hank Williams, I wouldn’t be doing what I do today.
James Brown : I wasn’t just a fan, I was his brother. He said I was good and I said he was good; we never argued about that. Elvis was a hard worker, dedicated, and God loved him. Last time I saw him was at Graceland. We sang Old Blind Barnabus together, a gospel song. I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There’ll never be another like that soul brother.
Jackie Wilson : A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis.
Dick Clark (US pop mogul) : It’s rare when an artist’s talent can touch an entire generation of people. It’s even rarer when that same influence affects several generations. Elvis made an imprint on the world of pop music unequalled by any other single performer.
Frank Sinatra : There have been many accolades uttered about Elvis' talent and performances through the years, all of which I agree with wholeheartedly. I shall miss him dearly as a friend. He was a warm, considerate and generous man.
Bruce Springsteen : There have been a lotta tough guys. There have been pretenders. And there have been contenders. But there is only one king.
Rod Stewart : Elvis was the king. No doubt about it. People like myself, Mick Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps.
Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols) : Elvis was dead before he died and his gut was so big it cast a shadow over rock and roll in the past few years. Our music is what’s important now.
Paul Simon : As much as I idolized him, the lesson of his life - what happens to people with tremendous gifts in their youth - was terrible. His lesson was that you go to Las Vegas and stop thinking and live in an insulated world where you can get as many drugs as you want. That's very destructive.
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Vernon Presley (father of Elvis Presley) : There was never any sign of life after he collapsed. I tried to get him to speak and breathe.
Ulysses Jones (medical technician) : As many as a dozen people huddled over the body of a man clothed in pyjamas. From his shoulders up, his skin was dark blue. Around his neck, which seemed fat amd bloated, was a very large medallion. His sideburns were grey. A middle-aged woman was giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a young man was pressing on his chest. I knelt down and checked his pulse. There was none.
(Source : National Enquirer, date uncertain)
Charlie Crosby (Medical technician) : It took five of us to lift him. The pyjama top was unbuttoned all the way down. I could see great big rolls of fat on his belly.
(Source : National Enquirer, date uncertain)
Vernon Presley (father of Elvis Presley) : I was with him when they took him to the hospital. He was probably dead when he collapsed.
Dr. George Nichopoulos (personal physician) : The body showed no indications of drug abuse.
Jerry Weintraub (concert promoter) : I was at home and he was supposed to start a tour for me the next day in Maine and my telephone rang and it was Joe Esposito on one line. I don't know if he remembers this, but it was Joe, and he said, "Jerry, I got to talk to you", and my other line rang and I said, "Hold on one second, Joe". And I hit the other line, it was Roon Arledge from ABC news and he said to me, "Jerry, Elvis is dead".
And I said, "What? What?" I said, "Hold on", and I got back on with Joe. I said, "Joe, what’s the matter?" Joe said, "I'm in the bathroom with Elvis. He just died. He hadn't gone. They hadn't taken him away yet". He said, "I just want you to know because your phone is gonna start ringing". I said, "It's already rung. Roon Arledge is on the phone".
Joe was a disaster. You know, he was a complete wreck. He lost his best friend and he couldn't believe it. I mean, he was totally bummed out. It got worse and worse when we got to the funeral and all that stuff, but Joe knew he had to handle it. You know, there was nobody else that was gonna handle it besides Joe. He had to get in there and take care of things and he did.
Roon Arledge knew because the minute they call 911, you know, it goes out on the air and the police know and it goes on the police radio and the television people and the associated press know and it takes about one second especially for someone like Elvis.
James Burton (guitarist in Presley’s band) : We’d got a call for the next leg of the tour and were on a plane from Vegas to Portland, Maine, for the first show. Half an hour into the flight, the pilot came on the intercom. ‘We’ve been asked to return to Las Vegas. We’re going to stop and re-fuel.’ We stopped in a little town called Pueblo, Colorado, USA. Marty Harrell, the trombone player, said, ‘I’m going to call Vegas, find out what’s going on.’
The first thing that came to my mind was that Elvis’s dad Vernon had been sick. He had heart problems. But Marty came back with tears in his eyes, put his arm around me and said, ‘Elvis passed away.’ Chills went all over me. It was such a shock. I was thinking, how can this be? Elvis is so young. It’s not just losing the world’s greatest talent and showman, but just one of the most wonderful guys you could ever meet.
DJ Fontana (Presley’s drummer) : I was at Sun studios in Nashville. Shelby Singleton had bought the label from Sam and we were cutting somebody up here. It was about four or four-thirty. Shelby come back on the talkback and said, ‘DJ, we just heard on the radio that Elvis has passed away.’ I said, ‘No, we’ve heard that before.’ We had heard that before and it was never true.
So he said, ‘You wanna call the session and we’ll finish up tomorrow?’ I said, ‘No, let’s finish up what we have to do. I’ll try and get someone on the phone when I get home.’
I couldn’t find a soul because everybody was heading towards Memphis. All the numbers I had, everybody was gone, it was out of pocket. I finally got a hold of george Klein and George said, ‘Yeah, that’s true, DJ, everybody is on the way.’ It was terrible. A young man like that you don’t think is gonna pass that soon anyhow.
Otis Blackwell (composer of several Presley hits) : I was in a friend's studio helping him
put a tape together when a buddy of his called and told him about it. He said, "I got
some news for you. It's bad news in one respect and good news in another. Do you
want me to tell you now or later?"
I said ‘Later,’ because I was in the studio when President Kennedy was killed and also
when Martin Luther King was killed, so I know what effect bad news can have on a
session.
When the session was over and he told me, at first I thought he was joking. Then I saw that he wasn’t, but it really didn’t hit me until I laid down to get some sleep. Then I got a feeling all through me.
The one other time that I experienced those feelings was when my mother died ... and
my son. It wasn't because he wouldn't be doing any more of my songs. It was like...
a piece of me … it was like a piece of the whole business. I mean some people you
just figure are never going to die. Inside, man, they'll always live.
Jerry Weintraub : I jumped on a plane immediately for Memphis and went down there and it was pretty tough. It was pretty tough to see him laid out dead in the living room and then when I got there I had a meeting with his father and the Colonel and a whole bunch of people were there.
John Stafford (journalist) : Soon after Presley's death, I was talking with Carl Perkins and somebody happened to say that they thought Colonel Parker was a genius, to which Carl replied, "I guess if you call driving a boy to his grave at forty two a genius, then he was a genius."
Farida McFree (girlfriend of Bob Dylan) : I was with Bob the night Presley died. He really took it very bad. He didn’t speak for a couple of days. He was really grieving.
Bob Dylan : I went over my whole life. I went over my whole childhood. I didn’t talk to anyone for a week after Elvis died. If it wasn’t for Elvis and Hank Williams, I wouldn’t be doing what I do today.
James Brown : I wasn’t just a fan, I was his brother. He said I was good and I said he was good; we never argued about that. Elvis was a hard worker, dedicated, and God loved him. Last time I saw him was at Graceland. We sang Old Blind Barnabus together, a gospel song. I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There’ll never be another like that soul brother.
Jackie Wilson : A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis.
Dick Clark (US pop mogul) : It’s rare when an artist’s talent can touch an entire generation of people. It’s even rarer when that same influence affects several generations. Elvis made an imprint on the world of pop music unequalled by any other single performer.
Frank Sinatra : There have been many accolades uttered about Elvis' talent and performances through the years, all of which I agree with wholeheartedly. I shall miss him dearly as a friend. He was a warm, considerate and generous man.
Bruce Springsteen : There have been a lotta tough guys. There have been pretenders. And there have been contenders. But there is only one king.
Rod Stewart : Elvis was the king. No doubt about it. People like myself, Mick Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps.
Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols) : Elvis was dead before he died and his gut was so big it cast a shadow over rock and roll in the past few years. Our music is what’s important now.
Paul Simon : As much as I idolized him, the lesson of his life - what happens to people with tremendous gifts in their youth - was terrible. His lesson was that you go to Las Vegas and stop thinking and live in an insulated world where you can get as many drugs as you want. That's very destructive.