In the 1960’s and 1970’s, there was one man who stood atop
of the music world and became a source a frustration for parents, and a source
of hopeless love for the young teens that fell under the spell of the music of
the one and only, Elvis Presley. Know as the “King of Rock and Roll”, Elvis
Presley was the poster child for a lavish lifestyle that revolved around the
infectious world of rock and Roll. Fame, fortune, alcohol, drugs, and
everything that has to do with stardom in the music industry was Elvis, but to
think that all of it came to a cold end in the bathroom of his Memphis home
seems as a too subtle and soon end to the man that made rock and Roll. At 42
years old, Elvis Presley was found dead on the toilet, leaving behind only
mystery and question as to whether or not a figure so high in life had really
met his end so young and so suddenly? Was Elvis connected to the Mafia and was
forced into witness protection? Was the tombstone of Elvis misspelled
intentionally due to The King faking his own death and not wanting his true
name to be put on a memorial built upon a lie? Has Elvis been secretly living
among us waiting for old age to take him, while the rest of the world has
already mourned the death of his icon? Let’s take a look at the death of Elvis
Presley in order to asses as to whether or not The King really died on a toilet
Graceland, or if the mystery clouding his death is present for good
reason.
Before a clear and final assessment
can be made on what really happened to Elvis Presley, a dive into his character
as a whole must be made in order to understand the type of person he was, and
if any leads can be made based on him as a person. Elvis was born in Tupelo,
Mississippi and was brought up in his humble beginnings where he first was able
to identify core characteristics such as; caring, kind, and loving (“Elvis
Presley” 1). By the 1950’s, after having dabbled in music and the performing
arts, Elvis had made appearances in radio, television, and even on the silver
screen, where he began to make a name for himself as someone who had potential
to become and maintain the status of a bigtime star (1).
In early life, Elvis had been
influenced greatly by music, coming from a working class family that was almost
nomadic in the sense that they moved around a fair amount. Elvis developed and
early love appreciation for gospel music due to his family being religious and
active in church (“Elvis Presley” 1). Elvis quickly received brief burst of
stardom early on in life, which would lead him to become involved with what
would soon be famously known as Sunset Studio, where he would guided by Sam
Phillips, the owner of the studio who took Elvis as a sort of apprentice, “[he] soon began touring and
recording, trying to catch his first big break. "That's All Right"
was Presley's first single in 1954.”(1). By 1955, Elvis had gained
popularity with the young demographic of the American public, while
simultaneously losing popularity with the older demographic of the American
public due to his controversial dancing that was viewed by some as
inappropriate. In 1956, Elvis would release his first Number 1 hit, “Heartbreak
Hotel”, and sign a movie contract while under the management of Colonel Tom Parker, who would be one of many
people who saw Elvis as more of lucky lottery ticket, rather than someone
worthy of true guidance (“Elvis Presley” 1).
Although Elvis had begun to reach
the stardom he would soon become famous for, he like many other American males
of the time period, was unable to escape the draft that was a result of the
Vietnam war. In 1957, Elvis received his draft papers and was sent to the Army,
where he would spend a little over a year serving in Germany (“Elvis Presley”
1). It is there, that Elvis had experienced life as not only a working man, but
a working man serving his country after being ordered to do so by said country,
amidst his soon to be fame.
In 1967, Elvis would wed to
Priscilla Beaulieu and would later father Priscilla child, Lisa
All in all, it seems as though that
Elvis first started out as a man with quality characteristics due to his eray
life and bringing up from a humble home. He even served in the military which
would have further instilled the qualities that he was raised to maintain, but
the turning point in his character seems to have fallen in line with the
turning point in his career. He was exposed to stardom and fame, both things
creating a challenge when attempting to maintain a lifestyle of humbleness, due
such a virtue being difficult to with hold in a world that does not seems to
care much for values of that nature.
With the death of Elvis Presley
being so soon and sudden, there are many conspiracy theories that exist in
order to better explain as to why such an American icon would reach his end in
such a way at the young age of 42. One theory concludes that Elvis had ties to
the Mafia and was put in witness protection, while the other two suggest that
he had only faked his death with no clear reason as to why without the
explanation of the Mafia.
The first
conspiracy that revolves around Elvis, and the most popular, is that Elvis
became an undercover agent for the FBI in attempts to bring down a part of the
Mafia known as “The Fraternity”. In over 700 FBI documents that have been
released to the public, there is proof that Elvis had dealings with known member of The Fraternity in relation to
the sale of an airplane that belonged to Elvis (Chan, Time). With multiple
sources crediting Elvis with having high regard for the FBI, it seems plausible
in the since that he might have acquired a deeper relationship with bureau than
the public was aware of. The theory hinges on the idea that Elvis became an
agent for the bureau and was ultimately discovered as a mole within The
Fraternity and was forced to go into witness protection and fake his own death,
due to the crime organization indefinitely planning on killing him (Chan,
Time). The issue that lies with this theory is that hundreds of people would
have had to been aware of the fake death, meaning that they all would have had
to been paid off in one way or another in order to maintain silent.
The next conspiracy theory, focuses
on the tombstone that occupies the grave of Elvis rather than the story as to
why he would fake his death. Elvis’s middle name was Aron, and the spelling of
his middle name had stayed that way all of his life growing up, not to be
confused with the spelling, Aaron. However, on the tombstone that is currently
at the grave of Elvis, his middle name is spelled, Aaron, which begs the
question as to why the name would be spelled differently than how it had been
his entire life. With the possibility of it just being a mistake having been
ruled out due to the fame of Elvis and the family easily being able to fix it,
it raises the alternative that Elvis had faked his death and wanted his middle
name to be purposely misspelled due to his name being on a grave that wasn't
truly his being unethical (Chan, Time). While this theory does sound not only
acceptable, but also juicy enough to be entertaining, it is recorded that Elvis
has begun to spell his name as Aaron rather than Aron later in life (Chan,
Time).
The final theory is that Elvis is
still alive and faked his death for reasons that are unable to be identified.
This theory is brought up due slip ups that his ex wife and daughter have had
in interviews where they seemed to have referred to Elvis in the first person
and the correcting themselves after catching their own mistake. The idea that
he faked his own death without any real explanation seems unlikely due to his
public figure and status as a star within the American culture.
While the idea of Elvis not having
met his demise on the toilet in his home, alone, is one that is believed in by
many, it seems unlikely that Elvis lived past August 16, 1977. The thought
of a person as iconic and influencing
dying at the young age of 42, in a bathroom, seems so unfitting and feels like
an ending to a movie that should have been deleted, it seems as though his life
came to an end in a more poetic fashion than thought of at first glance. His
life was big, he was big, but in the end, a man that was surrounded with such
drama and action, died in a simple way in a simple setting, rather than a in a
big way and in a big setting.
Work
Cited
Chan,
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/.
“Elvis
Presley.” Biography.com, A&E
Networks Television, 16 Aug. 2018,
Power,
Gabriel. “Elvis Presley Conspiracies: Is the King Really Dead?” The Week UK, The Week
UK, 15 Aug. 2018,
www.theweek.co.uk/87812/elvis-presley-conspiracies-is-the-king-really-dead.
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