Sunday (August 16th) marks the 43rd anniversary of the death ofElvis Presley. Elvis died of a heart attack on August 16th, 1977 at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 42-years-old. Fans are participating in a modified "Elvis Week" schedule in and around "The King's "Graceland mansion, which complies fully with recommended government protocols on COVID-19 -- including a socially distanced candlelight vigil.
Elvis would have turned 85 back on January 8th, and unbelievably, 2020 marks the first year that Elvis Presley has been gone longer than he was alive.
Tragically, this past July 13th, Elvis andPriscilla Presley's only grandson, Lisa Maria Presley's child,Benjamin Keough. Keough shot himself with a shotgun at his home in Calabasas, California. He was 27-years-old.
Set for release on November 20th is From Elvis In Nashville, the four-CD/digital collection presenting the definitive chronicle ofElvis Presley's legendary 1970 marathon sessions with the "Nashville Cats." The new collection features 40 undubbed, newly mixed classic recordings, and two discs of rare and unreleased outtakes.
Highlights on From Elvis In Nashvilleinclude:"Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Faded Love," "Make The World Go Away," "Just Pretend," "Funny How Time Slips Away," "The Next Step Is Love," "I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water," "Twenty Days And Twenty Nights," "I've Lost You," "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago," "The Fool," "It's Your Baby, You Rock It," "Stranger In The Crowd," "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," "Just Pretend," "Patch It Up," and more.
Col. Tom Parker, who was born on 1909 in the Netherlands, was a carnival barker before becoming Elvis' manager in 1954 with the Presley estate finally forcing him out in 1983. Parker died of a stroke in 1997.
The 50th anniversary of Elvis' watershed 1969 American Studios recordings and his Las Vegas comeback were celebrated last year with the release of the massive, 11-CD box set of his performances at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, titledLive 1969and the special two-LPLive At The International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV - August 26, 1969. The vinyl release features Elvis' complete set from August 26th's Midnight show.
In April 2018, the eagerly awaited HBO documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher premiered on April 14th on HBO, including never-before-seen photos and footage from private collections worldwide. The doc was directed by Bruce Springsteen's longtime filmmaker,Thom Zimny and produced by Springsteen's manager Jon Landau, Priscilla Presley, and original "Memphis Mafia" memberJerry Schilling, who now serves as the president of the Beach Boys' Brother Records' Inc.
In 2010, Elvis's personal physician Dr. George Nichopoulos-- infamously known world wide as "Dr. Nick" -- published his memoirs about his decade over-prescribing drugs to Elvis in the memoir,The King And Dr. Nick. In 1980, Nichopoulos, who died in 2016 -- and over the years has been rated no better than a dope dealer by Elvis' family, friends, and legion of fans -- was indicted on 14 counts of over-prescribing drugs to Elvis andJerry Lee Lewis, as well as 12 other patients. According to court records, in 1977 -- the year Elvis died at age 42 -- Nichopoulos had prescribed over 10,000 doses of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives, and hormones for Elvis.
In an interview withThe Daily Mail, Nichopoulos revealed that Elvis was suffering from, "arthritis, gout, a fatty liver, an enlarged heart, migraines, constipation, and a colon swollen to twice its normal size." Elvis was also reportedly battling glaucoma -- pressure on the eyeball -- as well as hepatitis, an enlarged liver, and Cushing's Syndrome -- a hormonal disease that causes bloating -- which was most likely was attributed to the herculean doses of hard dope he took on a daily basis.
"Dr. Nick" went to great lengths over the years to dodge the blame of "The King's" death by stressing that the majority of Elvis' drugs were gotten from sources other than him -- especially the drugs that were found in his system post-mortem: "My recollection is that there were four drugs found that I had prescribed out of the 12, 13, or 14 that were found in his body. And the others came from who knows where; they may have been from other doctors or other friends."
Dr. George Nichopoulos' prescriptions for Elvis Presley during the final 32 months of his life:
1975-- Amphetamines: 1,296; Sedatives: 1,891; Narcotics: 910
1976-- Amphetamines: 2,372; Sedatives: 2,680; Narcotics: 1,059
1977(through August 16th) -- Amphetamines: 1,790; Sedatives: 4,996; Narcotics: 2,019
Photo: Getty Images