Monday, December 11, 2017

The Death of the King of Rock n' Roll- Jacy Murdock





The Death of the King of Rock
What really happened to Elvis Presley? On the evening of August 16, 1977, Presley was found face down in his bathroom by his girlfriend at the time, Ginger Alden (Timmons 1). Although the King of Rock n’ Roll was struggling from some health problems like high blood pressure, the apparent cause of death was a drug overdose, however some believe the scene of death was staged to look like a suicide/overdose. Here are some of the arising conspiracies that encase the dethroning of the King:
1.         Was Elvis’ death a murder, staged as a suicide/accidental overdose?
2.         Is Elvis actually still alive?
3.         Who could have killed the King?
Let’s take a look at Elvis Presley and the conspiracy theories surrounding his death, while considering who would have wanted him dead or gone.
Character Analysis
            How did Elvis Presley go from the outcast on poverty row to world renowned artist, hero, and heart-throb? Elvis Aaron Presley “was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935” (“Elvis Presley Biography” Graceland). He grew up singing wonderfully in the church choir with his family and moved often, due to his father’s job. One year, Elvis asked his mother for a bicycle, but his mom decided to buy him a safer present that was less expensive than a bike, a guitar. He spent his days strumming along only to himself and his family, until 7th grade when he began taking his guitar to school and playing it during lunch for his peers to enjoy because he as kind hearted (Doll 4). As the years went by, Elvis became more and more influenced by country music and colored music, and finally sang an amazing original song for Sun Records who signed him before his contract was bought by RCA (“Elvis Presley” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). When World War II came into play, Elvis bravely went into the draft and while overseas met the women who would become his wife a few years later, Priscilla Beaulieu. Because he was a family oriented man, they had one child together, Lisa Marie Presley, before splitting up later on. While he was in the military and before the military, his music influenced singers like the Beatles who began to surpass him in the music charts (Timmons 1). After making an iconic comeback, he began facing health problems which led to more prescription drug use and ultimately his death. Let’s take a deeper look into the conflicts of Elvis Presley.
            After Elvis reclaimed his fame, he began facing some health problems. He suffered from “obesity, prescription drug abuse, loneliness, and the heartbreak of losing the love of his life Priscilla” (Sheridan 1). The most obvious health problem was his rapid weight gain. He became mildly overweight, which means he gained a large amount of body fat over a short period of time. As most people know, obesity can lead to more health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, as well as less of an ability to be active. This would have interfered with his performances especially his well-known hip swivel and could have also led to psychological changes like depression. He had many prescriptions with large doses in order to help him with his other health problems: enlarged colon, glaucoma, and high blood pressure. (1) The man with “good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor,” (Anton 1) had become a man with the internal conflict of depression. Due to his depression, Elvis suffered from loneliness. He missed his wife Priscilla who left him alone and heartbroken. He had no family to be with him as he grew older. He had a nurse who took care of him who would keep him company, hold his hand, and sing gospel songs with him, to try and make him feel better, but she, Letetia Henley, could not (Sheridan 1). Nobody could help the King of Rock and Roll out of his slump, nobody, but, Priscilla. Because he did not have the love of his life with him, Elvis suffered from heartbreak. He pined for Priscilla, and “he was miserable” (1). Elvis’ love for popping pills became another internal conflict. He became addicted to drugs, taking random medications from people who would give it to him on the streets in order to get on his good size. “He hoarded them” (1). His doctor may have been the cause to his addiction because Dr. Nichopoulos lost his medical license for overprescribing pills to his patients (1). Elvis struggled with the ideas of aging and self-preservation. He couldn’t cope with the fact that he was growing old alone, so he turned to drugs to make him feel better physically and mentally, but besides his internal conflicts, Elvis had external ones too.
            Elvis Presley, though full of humility and human-kindness, had external conflicts with some people. The one conflict that had a major effect on him, was his conflict with his wife Priscilla Presley. Priscilla was 11 years younger than Elvis. While that was not a problem for the young couple, it interfered with Priscilla’s life. They began dating when she was 14 years old. Priscilla had fun throughout her teenage years, but “she didn't experience them ‘as a normal girl’” (Dier 1). They had an unusual relationship, which she didn’t realize for quite some time. The couple was married on May 1, 1967, when “cilla”, as Elvis called her, was twenty-one and Elvis was thirty-two (Shevey 1). Less than a year later, Lisa Marie Presley was born. Both Elvis and Priscilla were in love with the lifestyle of raising a child, a daughter, in their new home, but as time does not stand still, neither does show-business. Elvis was on a strict schedule, with music tours, movies, etc. so he was away from home often. He would try to make up his absence to Priscilla by purchasing her gifts, sometimes of her own choice, but gifts cannot give the same allusion as love does (1). Priscilla missed her husband. She knew that the way he lived was the way he was, but deep down she hoped he could change. He didn’t. Elvis continued making his public appearances while his little wife stayed home all day to care for their child, all the while not knowing that there was soon to be a conflict between him and his wife. When Elvis didn’t change, Priscilla decided she had put up with his absence long enough, and just like that, she left him. A few months later, Elvis filed for divorce, giving full custody of Lisa Marie to Priscilla (1). This external conflict Elvis had with his wife, was the cause of some of his internal conflicts. If only he had spent more time with his family.
            Elvis Presley was an amazing man with some struggles throughout his life of fame. It is hard to think that the King of Rock n’ Roll is gone. Many say he was too young to die, he should have lived longer, or he shouldn’t be dead at all. Well, what if he isn’t? What if his death was a way of allowing him to have a “normal life?” What if Elvis Aaron Presley is still alive?
Conspiracy Theories (Explained Theories and Survey Results)
In the case of Elvis Presley’s death, there are some conspiracy theories that have developed. One of the highlighted conspiracy theories questions the means of his death. The other two highlighted theories question the certainty of his death and if there was another part played in his untimely death.
The first conspiracy theory suggests that Elvis’ death may have been a murder only staged as a suicide/overdose. On the day of his death, Elvis had wandered into the bathroom to use the toilet. He suffered from constipation, so he brought a book along most likely to help pass the time (Williamson 1). Later, when Elvis was discovered, he was curled up in the fetal position on the floor in front of his black commode with black leather seating, two syringes lying next to him, covered in vomit (1). If Elvis was just going to the bathroom to use the toilet, then why would he have brought syringes? On top of that, there were no traces of illicit drugs in his system, only prescription (Rogers 1). So why were there syringes? They may have been placed there to stage his death as an overdose, especially because the body had been moved and people in the house kept insisting that he overdosed, yet weren’t in the room with him when he died. Medics that responded to the call on the night of his death even asked for a container of the supposed drugs, but “none were produced” (Williamson 1). Elvis had been a heavy user of prescription drugs, but under the direction of his doctor, Dr. Nichopoulos (1). Although, his doctor had been tried in court by the state for overprescribing drugs to Elvis and a few other people, Elvis did suffer from many physical problems and a few psychological issues, so it is justifiable that Elvis would need a large amount of prescription drugs.  Over the years, even if Elvis was an abuser of drugs, he knew how many drugs to take without killing him, so he couldn’t have accidentally overdosed. Knowing all of this, it is a definite possibility that Elvis was murdered.
Another conspiracy theory is that Elvis may still be alive. There is no evidence of him being alive today, just apparent sightings, however there are different conspiracies that insist that he did not die on April 16, 1977. There is one theory that supports Elvis’ love and respect for the FBI. This theory suggests that Elvis volunteered to go under cover into a criminal organization known as “the Fraternity” (Chan 1). He volunteered to do this in 1976, a year before his death in his Graceland home. It is described that there was a man in the Fraternity that knew Elvis through an airplane deal in the past, so when he found out Elvis had joined the group, he knew he was a mole. Elvis was put into the Witness Protection Program because his life may have been at risk (1). The conspiracy comes in to play when people believed that he faked his death as a means of making it easier to have a new life after being threatened in his original life. However, Patrick Lacy told researchers that if Elvis Presley would have faked his death, there would have been “hundreds or thousands of people that knew about it,” so it could not be true (1). Some skeptics believe that another conspiracy is the supposed misspelling of his middle name, Aaron, on his tombstone (1). People who believe in this conspiracy believe his middle name was only spelled with one “A” instead of two, but there is not proof to support this theory.
There is one more conspiracy theory to be discussed. This theory questions who could have killed Elvis? The one person that sticks out the most, is Ginger Alden, Elvis’ twenty year old girlfriend at the time of his death. In an interview with Priscilla Presley in July of 1977, it was discovered that four years after their divorce, Elvis begged Priscilla to come back to him (Parker 1). He wanted his family back. It was also learned that he confessed to Priscilla that he did not intend to marry his girlfriend Ginger Alden (1). This could have given Ginger motive to kill Elvis. If she found out this information, she may have tried to kill him so that no one else could have him. It is also stated by Mike Parker that Ginger found out she was “not figured in to Elvis’ will” after his death and was devastated (1). This devastation could show that she may have killed him after thinking she could have figured in to the will, so she could take her “riches” and find a man that truly loved her. When this did not work out for her in the end, she had to act her way out of being a suspect.
The conspiracy theory that is the most plausible is the first theory that Elvis was murdered. There is quite a bit of evidence that can support this theory, or even the lack of evidence can prove this theory true. Elvis had no illicit drugs in his system and the amount of prescription drugs in his system was not high enough to kill him. The syringes by his body did not make any sense as to why they were there. He would not have shot up while using the toilet. The body was moved and people just kept insisting that Elvis had overdosed (Williamson). When the paramedics asked for the vile of drugs to be produced, no drugs were produced, and not everyone looked very sad (1). All of these facts point towards a murder. It feels impossible for his death to not have been a murder. He would not have destroyed his life after he lost his wife to keep his music and acting careers alive. Although a poll asked if people thought Elvis overdosed, it resulted in twelve people saying yes he overdosed and only eight people saying no they do not think so. Yet, there are still many other people who would believe Elvis was murdered.
Elvis Presley was a humble, religious man. While he did abuse drugs, he did manage to keep his life somewhat together before supposedly overdosing; therefore it does not make sense to assume the King of Rock overdosed. There is more reason to believe Elvis was murdered rather than anything else. Elvis Presley was an inspiration to all no matter what his cause of death was.
Conclusion
Elvis Presley is one of the many musical artists and actors that died suddenly and before their time. His death led to three conspiracy theories.
1.      Was Elvis’ death a murder, staged as a suicide/accidental overdose?
2.      Is Elvis actually still alive?
3.      Who could have killed the King?
Although a lot of the evidence points to Elvis being murdered, the case is still unsolved. Everyone seems to think that because the media came out with the information that Elvis overdosed, he did, but this is just not the case.


Image result for Elvis presley as a child 
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Works Cited
Chan, Melissa. “Elvis Presley Death Theories: Why Do Some Think He's Alive?” Time, Time, time.com/4897819/elvis-presley-alive-conspiracy-theories/.
Dier, Arden. “Priscilla Presley Reveals Why She Left Elvis.” Newser, 21 Nov. 2016, www.newser.com/story/234329/priscilla-presley-reveals-why-she-left-elvis.html.
Doll, Susan. “Elvis Presley Biography.” The Musical Influences of Elvis Presley - The Musical Influences of Elvis Presley | HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 11 July 2007, entertainment.howstuffworks.com/elvis-presley-biography3.htm.
“Elvis Presley.” Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, www.rockhall.com/inductees/elvis-presley.
“Elvis Presley Biography.” Graceland, www.graceland.com/elvis/biography.aspx.
“For the First Time... Elvis Presley's ex-Wife Tells All.” Elvis Australia News, priscilla.elvispresley.com.au/1973-priscilla-presley-ladies-home-journal.html.
Parker, Mike. “EXCLUSIVE: Elvis Presley begged 'ex' Priscilla for reunion.” Express.co.uk, 23 Aug. 2014, www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/502645/EXCLUSIVE-Elvis-begged-ex-Priscilla-for-reunion.
Rodgers, Garry. “Elvis Presley's Death -- What Really Killed the King?” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 Feb. 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/garry-rodgers/elvis-presleys-death-what_1_b_9157820.html.
Sheridan, Peter. “The sad last days of Elvis - drugs, obesity and a live-in nurse.” Express.co.uk, Express.co.uk, 17 Sept. 2015, www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/606337/The-last-days-Elvis-drugs-obesity-and-a-nurse.
Synergy, Top. “Elvis Presleygeneral characteristics.” Elvis Presley characteristics, famous-relationships.topsynergy.com/Elvis_Presley/Characteristics.asp.
Timmons, Greg. “The Death of the 'King': Remembering Elvis, 40 Years Later.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 15 Aug. 2017, www.biography.com/news/elvis-presley-death-40-years-later.
Williamson, Joel. “The Elvis Presley coverup: What America didn't hear about the death of the king.” Salon, 14 Apr. 2017, www.salon.com/2014/11/16/the_elvis_presley_coverup_what_america_didnt_hear_about_the_death_of_the_king/.






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