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Thursday, 04 December 2008 Home arrow 1969 - 1977
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"Ambition comes from the brain leadin' the body, instead of the other way around." - On Ambition
 
1969 - 1977

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 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 ]

   
Elvis Trivia
Billboard's Joel Whitburn declared Presley the "#1 act of the Rock era", beating out The Beatles, based upon his dominance of Billboard's list of top 100 singles artists since 1955.
 
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