|
After seven years off the top of the charts, Presley's song "Suspicious
Minds" hit No. 1 on the Billboard music charts on November 1, 1969.
This was the last time any song by Presley hit #1 on the US pop charts
while he was still alive, although "Burning Love" got as high as #2 in
September 1972. He still reached #1 on charts around the world. For
example, "The Wonder Of You" reached #1 in the UK in 1970. The "Aloha
from Hawaii" concert in January 1973 is said to have been the most
successful of his career, was the first of its kind to be broadcast
worldwide via satellite and his biggest audience ever. The soundtrack
album was yet another #1 disc.
Way Down was racing up the American Country Music charts shortly before
Presley's death in 1977, it hit #1 on that very chart the week he died
(Presley recorded a number of country hits in his final years). It also
topped the UK pop charts at the same time. Between 1969 and 1977 he
gave over 1,000 sold-out performances in Las Vegas and on tour. He was
the first artist to have four shows in a row sold to capacity at New
York's Madison Square Garden. During the mid-1970s Elvis became
increasingly isolated, battling an addiction to prescription drugs and
its resulting toll on his appearance, health and performances. Elvis
made his last live concert appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana at the
Market Square Arena on June 26, 1977.
Death and burial
 Elvis Presley funeral procession Elvis died at his home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee on
August 16, 1977. He was found on the floor of his bedroom's bathroom
ensuite by girlfriend Ginger Alden who had been asleep in his bed. He
was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital where doctors pronounced
him dead at 3.30pm. He was only 42 years old.
At a press conference following his death, the medical examiners
declared that he had died of a heart attack. Heart disease was very
prevalent in his family, especially on his father's side. Elvis' father
Vernon also died of heart failure in 1979. In an interview for the BBC
television programme Hard Talk on July 31, 2000, Sam Phillips offered a
slightly different explanation, based on his thirty year friendship
with the Presley family. He believed that the cause of Elvis' death was
due to kidney failure, saying that members of the Presley family had a
genetic weakness in their kidneys. He cited similarities between the
deaths of Elvis and his mother Gladys. Phillips remarked that some six
to eight weeks before each of their deaths, they suddenly and
inexplicably became bloated, which he attributed to a kidney problem.
Gladys Presley, who was only 47 years old at the time, was diagnosed to
have died of a heart attack brought on by hepatitis.
Dr. Willis Madrey, who was responsible for examining Elvis's liver two
years before his death, said "I had understood he was having some
gastrointestinal problems his doctors were trying to evaluate". He
was referring to Elvis's obesity and enlarged colon, which
progressively got worse over time and likely led to severe constipation
problems. There is a wide belief that this combined with a weak heart
caused his death but the autopsy records will not be in the public
domain until 2027.
Presley was originally buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis next
to his mother. After an attempted theft of the body, his and his
mother's remains were moved to Graceland.[From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]
|