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Elvis Presley spent the final years of his life playing shows in Las Vegas, hanging out with his girlfriend, Ginger Alden, and taking prescription drugs. As he reached his early 40s, the King of Rock and Roll became dependent on these drugs to help him function. He was mostly nocturnal and struggled to sleep without some sort of pill. Despite this, his ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, said he would not admit he had any kind of drug problem.
Priscilla was interviewed intimately for the David Ritz book: Elvis by the Presleys: Intimate Stories from Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, and Other Family Members.
In the book, she explained that Elvis “never” considered himself to be an addict in any way.
She noted that, because all of the drugs that he was taking were prescription, they could not be bad in any way. Priscilla explained this distinction “made a big difference in his mind”.
What’s more, Elvis had done a lot of work behind the scenes to fight the war on drugs throughout America, meaning he felt he was somehow absolved of becoming a slave to this addiction.
As to why Elvis became so deeply ingrained in using drugs over the years, Priscilla had one theory.
“He was hurting more and more,” she theorised. She also noted how the drug-taking began in 1973, around the time the lovers got divorced.
Eventually, it was too late. On August 16, 1977, Elvis was found dead inside the bathroom of his home, Graceland, in the afternoon. He had been up to the early hours of the morning with his girlfriend, Ginger, before they went to bed as the sun rose.
Ginger noticed he got out of bed in the late morning, but didn’t look for him until afternoon. As they were mostly nocturnal at that point, it was unusual for Elvis to be out of bed in the daylight.
Ginger recalled the harrowing moment she found her fiancée in her memoir. She remembered: “Just after 2pm, I awoke and walked into Elvis’s bedroom in search of him. The bathroom door was cracked open a little. I knocked on the door and said, ‘Elvis?’ There was no answer. Slowly opening the door, I peered in and saw Elvis on the floor. I stood paralysed.”
She described the star’s body as if it had been “completely frozen” in a seated position before falling forward.
Members of Elvis’ family attended the scene and tried to resuscitate him before paramedics were called.
Ginger wrote: “As I watched the paramedics carry Elvis downstairs and out the front door, the reality of what was happening suddenly hit me. I began to cry as the ambulance sped away. I suddenly felt very alone.”
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