If you had all the fame a person could ever want, all the money, and all the glory, would you want to lose it all to a heart attack? This is what happened to Elvis Presley, a rock and roll singer of the 50’s, or maybe what didn’t happen to Elvis Presley. Many people believe different things on why and how he died. There are two main conspiracy theories:
- 1.He is still alive
- 2.He killed himself to escape the mafia
Will we discover he is still out in the world today, is he gone from being scared for his life and had no other option, or is he really gone from a heart attack?
Elvis Presley was a wonderful father to his daughter, caring person to his fans and wife, and extraordinary talented man to the world. No matter how famous he got he never let the lights and action take away from his family. Presley had a loving wife, Priscilla Presley, and a beautiful daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. He always found time for them and made sure that Lisa always felt loved. On an interview with Good Morning America, Priscilla sits down to talk about her life with Elvis. She explains her relationship with Elvis and his relationship with his daughter, expressing he was a man of compassion. She says, “Elvis had more compassion in his little nail, in his finger, than I'd say this planet.” (“Married at 21”). His relationship with Lisa, his daughter, was just as compassion as his wife if not more. In the same interview with GMA Priscilla talks about their daughter, showing while in Lisa’s life Presley wanted to be the best father, he could be for her, “He adored having a child. He adored Lisa. He just loved watching her grow up', Priscilla said. 'He was a very caring father” (1). Elvis only had nine years with his daughter, which is no time at all when it comes to time, you get to spend with your father. Even though she only had this little time with him, she remembers him in her life. Lisa sat down with Good Morning America to talk about her life with her father:
Lisa Marie remembers a dad who used to sing her lullabies, even in the wee hours of the morning. 'OH yeah, he'd always wake me up to sing in the middle of the night, get on the table and sing', she told Diane Sawyer, in an exclusive interview on 'Good Morning America'. 'I remember him as my dad, but he was a very exciting dad'. (Father and Daughter Together Again)
Revealing that he was there in her life and there to be the fun-loving father everybody wants. He was not only caring and loving for his wife and daughter but was for his fans and the world. He was a man for helping and raising money for causes in need. One of the biggest things he accomplished in charity was the U.S.S Arizona at Pearl Harbor:
In 1961, Elvis gave a benefit concert at Bloch Arena in Hawaii that raised over $65,000 toward the building of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. The resulting publicity gave new life to the fund-raising effort, which had, by then, lost its momentum. The memorial opened a year later. (Graceland The Home of Elvis Presley)
This concert shows that he was willing to help in the world with the talents that he had. In his lifetime this wasn’t the only charitable thing he did, there are multiple different occasions where he was raising money for a good cause:
Audience tickets for his 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii" television special and its pre-broadcast rehearsal show carried no price, as each audience member was asked to pay whatever he or she could. The performances and concert merchandise sales were a benefit raising $75,000 for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund in Hawaii. Each year, for many years, Elvis gave $1,000 or more to each of 50 Memphis-area charities, but also continually made many other charitable donations in Memphis and around the country. (Graceland The Home of Elvis Presley)
These charitable acts show he tried to make a difference in the world till the day he died. One of Elvis’ biggest accomplishment was winning the Outstanding Young Men Award, "United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (the Jaycees) named Elvis One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970” (Graceland the Home of Elvis Presley). This award proved that he has done outstanding work for the world. Even with Elvis being gone he still is making an impact today with charity from his fans and clubs that were left behind when he passed. The tradition of giving also continues through the work of the Elvis fan clubs worldwide, most of which are heavily involved in charitable endeavors in Elvis' memory (1). Proving that even though he died in 1977 he is still helping those in need from his fans.
Elvis was also incredibility talented even taking over the name of “The King of Rock n Roll”. He was an all-around man doing more than just singing on stage. He acted in many movies and on television shows. He was nominated for many awards but the most common being the Grammy's,” Elvis received 14 Grammy nominations from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS)” (Graceland The Home of Elvis Presley). Demonstrating that he was recognized for his talents in the singing industry. His acting career was less successful than his singing career, but he was active in trying to accomplish acting as much as singing,” Elvis Presley starred in 31 feature films as an actor and two theatrically released concert documentary films, all of which enjoyed financial success” (1). Presenting that he had a career in acting and was making a spotlight of his own on the acting community. Even with Elvis being gone he is still known as “The King of Rock in Roll” and has a huge fan base still out there supporting him, "Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home and refuge for 20 years, is one of the most visited homes in America today, now attracting over 600,000 visitors annually” (1). This is giving an example of a piece of the fan base he still has.
Elvis Presley died August 16th, 1977, or did he? There are many theories about his death. The two main theories are he is still alive, and he killed himself to escape the mafia. Elvis dying from a drug induced heart attack from a prescription that he was prescribed made many people question if he really died. Then his father, Vernon Presley, had the autopsy sealed until 2027(“How did Elvis Die”). So, it is wondered why would he do this if he was still alive?
Elvis still being alive is one conspiracy theory. Refusing to believe that he really died, but they had good reason to believe this from evidence supporting it. One thing that is a big piece of evidence, is the spelling of Elvis’s name on his tombstone. Elvis’s full name is Elvis Aron Presley on his tomb stone it says, “Elvis Aaron Presley” (“Elvis’ Middle Name”) (“top ten celebrity
Something else about his funeral, besides his tombstone, was how fast it was done and his casket pictures. His service was just two days after his death which is quit fast for a funeral to happen. Some think that “the arrangements all seemed to have been made” (“Hollaway”). From him planning his own death, he had all the funeral arrangements set up for it to happen. It could also just be that they had the money to set up a funeral in two days, without any planning ahead.
Another piece of evidence is the pictures from Elvis open casket, causing wonder about how young he looked, "Pictures sneaked out of the open casket appear to show a youthful looking Elvis – resembling more the handsome hunk from 1957, rather than the bloated bloke from 1977”
The last huge piece of Elvis conspiracy of him being alive is sighting of him after his death. There have been multiple ones being right after his death to years later. The first sighting that was announced was a couple days after his death when somebody seen him at the airport.” Soon after Presley's death, a man traveled to Memphis airport and purchased a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Allegedly, the man looked quite like the rock legend, and gave the name ‘Jon Burrows’, which was known to be an alias that Elvis used when booking hotels” (Emaes). There easily could have been a person who looked like Elvis, and someone was just trying to get a spotlight for a minuet saying he saw him. The accusations never stopped coming from different people around the world, and some even claim that he was in movies and photo shoots to stay in the spot light.” One mad theory claim that Elvis actually made an appearance in the 1990 film Home Alone” (“13 years after he died”) (1). This is very far stretch from it being so far after his death and with him being so much older nobody would know how he was supposed to look like. It could easily be him because if you were as famous as he was then lost all the fame you would want to pop back in every now and then to make an appearance. Another siting that he was seen at was a photo shoot in Graceland, “On December 31, 1977, this photo was taken by Mike Joseph” (“who was visiting Graceland with his family”) and rumored to show Elvis sitting in his pool house” (1). This could have been anybody in there, but if you faked your death wouldn’t you want to live in the home that you purchased? These are just a few of the sighting’s that have been accounted for of Elvis after his death.
The second big conspiracy that was accounted for was Elvis committing suicide to get away from the mafia. Elvis had dealt with the mafia called “The Fraternity” (Chan). Elvis started to work with the FBI to gain inlet about the mafia from the inside. He did this risking his life knowing that if he was uncovered as a mole he would be killed. There is evidence pointing to that he was going to get revealed as a mole, so he had to find a way out before he was killed. “But when Presley was found to be a mole, he was put into the witness protection program, Brewer-Giorgio said, citing what she said was evidence from FBI documents and interviews” (1). Elvis being scared to get caught made him make a huge decision to determine the rest of his life. Elvis taking his own life would mean he was able to escape the mafia and be under protection of the FBI. This option would mean that he wouldn’t be able to live his life with his wife or daughter but alone. The other option was for him to live his life in fear that he could be reviled as a mole and be murdered. With him dying he might have chosen the first option and that’s why there are so many loose ends in his death, causing so many people to believe he did not die. In a poll that was done, twenty-five people asking, if they believed Elvis died in 1977, twenty-three out of the twenty-five said they believed he didn’t die then and that he was still alive. These people could all have their minds changed if all the loose ends where tied. If you had to be faced with the decisions that Elvis was what would have you decided?
Elvis Presley was a man who had everything in the world. He was loved by so many and left an impact like no other. Elvis’ life was taken from him to soon and left so many people in disbelief. The disbelief people had led to conspiracies being constructed. The two were that he was still alive or that he killed himself to escape the mafia. Elvis’ death is still a big topic in the world, and many still have their own opinions on it. If his father would release Elvis’ autopsy, then everything would be laid to rest and there would be no more wonder or conspiracies. In 2027 when the autopsy is supposes to come out, the suspicion will be gone, and everyone will know the truth. Who will believe this autopsy, it being almost 50 years after his death, how do we know it is the truth when everything could all be a lie?
Work Cited
T image www.google.com/search?surl=1&safe=active&biw=1280&bih=913&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=yLnRW7KkHo3fwALVxI7wAQ&q=elvis casket photo &oq=elvis casket photo &gs_l=img.3.0.0j0i30.17213.17213..17975...0.0..0.146.146.0j1......1....1..gws-wiz-img.ClR0ezaBmB0#imgrc=Pod4xvA7nYsq8M:
T“Achievements.” Graceland, www.graceland.com/elvis/biography/achievements.aspx.
TChan, Melissa. “Elvis Presley Death Theories: Why Do Some Think He's Alive?” Time, Time, 15 Aug. 2017, time.com/4897819/elvis-presley-alive-conspiracy-theories/.
TEames, Tom. “Is Elvis Presley Alive? All the Weirdest Elvis Sightings and Conspiracy Theories.” Smooth, Smooth, 24 May 2018, www.smoothradio.com/features/elvis-presley-alive-sightings/.
T“Elvis Aaron Presley - Elvis' Middle Name, Is It Aron or Aaron?” Elvis Australia : Official Elvis Presley Fan Club, www.elvis.com.au/presley/news/article-aron-or-aaron.shtml.
THolloway, Henry. “Is This PROOF That Elvis Presley Faked His Own Death?” Dailystar.co.uk, Daily Star, 8 Jan. 2018, www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/637730/Elvis-Presley-Alive-Death-Fake-Conspiracy-King-Graceland-Anniversary-Jon-Burrows-Funeral.
S“Married at 21, Priscilla Presley Recalls Her Time With Elvis.” Elvis Australia News, priscilla.elvispresley.com.au/interview-priscilla-presley.shtml.
TYourDictionary. “How Did Elvis Presley Die?” Biography, 15 Aug. 2013, biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/how-did-elvis-presley-die.html.
No comments:
Post a Comment