Today marks what would have been Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday, however the King met his untimely death at the age of 43.
The King of Rock and Roll’s unexpected demise sent shockwaves through his fanbase, yet his family has historically been reticent about the autopsy findings.
The iconic Mississippi-born singer was found unresponsive on the floor of his Graceland mansion’s bathroom, having apparently collapsed near the toilet with his pyjama bottoms lowered.
Prior to his abrupt passing, Elvis’ health had severely declined, exacerbated by years of drug misuse and poor dietary habits.
His weight escalated to 25 stone after he secluded himself in his room, indulging in unhealthy snacks, leading to a situation so dire that he required a full-time nurse. In 1975, it is said that he avoided bathing, resulting in sores all over his body.
His diet, rich in fats, led to severe constipation; a post-mortem revealed a four-month-old stool lodged in his bowel. Additionally, Elvis was heavily medicated, having been prescribed close to 9,000 various pills, vials, and injections in the months preceding his death.
He was discovered by his girlfriend, Ginger Alden, who was only 21 at the time and later detailed the harrowing scene in her memoir: “His arms lay on the ground, close to his sides, palms facing upward.
“It was clear that, from the moment he landed on the floor, Elvis hadn’t moved. I gently turned his face toward me. A hint of air expelled from his nose. The tip of his tongue was clenched between his teeth and his face was blotchy. I gently raised one eyelid. His eye was staring straight ahead and blood red.”
An autopsy was conducted immediately afterwards, but its conclusions were kept secret by his family, leading to widespread speculation about the cause of death.
Dan Warlick, who was the chief investigator for the Tennessee Office of the State Chief Medical Examiner at the time and present at the autopsy, supported the widely held belief that Presley died while exerting himself during a bowel movement.
He has been quoted as saying: “Presley’s chronic constipation – the result of years of prescription drug abuse and high-fat, high-cholesterol gorging – brought on what’s known as Valsalva’s manoeuvre. Put simply, the strain of attempting to defecate compressed the singer’s abdominal aorta, shutting down his heart.”
While some argued that a drug overdose was the cause, a new inquiry in 1994 had coroner Joseph Davis offering a different view.
He stated: “The position of Elvis Presley’s body was such that he was about to sit down on the commode when the seizure occurred. He pitched forward onto the carpet, his rear in the air, and was dead by the time he hit the floor.”
“If it had been a drug overdose, [Elvis] would have slipped into an increasing state of slumber. He would have pulled up his pyjama bottoms and crawled to the door to seek help. It takes hours to die from drugs.”
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