Priscilla Presley's shocking claim: 'Elvis committed suicide'

[spaminator]

Priscilla Presley's shocking claim: 'Elvis committed suicide'
Brad Hunter
More from Brad Hunter
Published:
April 8, 2018
Updated:
April 8, 2018 12:14 PM EDT
The late, great Elvis Presley and his then wife Priscilla on their wedding day in 1967. HBO
The former wife of rock legend Elvis Presley is claiming the iconic performer committed suicide when he died of a drug-related heart attack.
Priscilla Presley, 72, says on HBO’s new documentary, Elvis Presley: The Searcher, that the King wouldn’t bow to anyone.
“You did not tell Elvis Presley what to do. You did not,” she said, adding that loved ones and members of his entourage tried to get him off drugs.
Priscilla Presley said Elvis inner circle desperately tried to wean him off drugs. GETTY IMAGES
The Suspicious Minds singer would have none of it.
Last year, former New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy, who wrote infamous Presley tell-all, Elvis: What Happened. told the Toronto Sun the rock star was a master at mixing drugs.
“People go, ‘Well, why didn’t anyone do anything?’ Well, that’s not true,” Priscilla said, confirming Dunleavy’s version. “I mean, you’d be out of there faster than a scratched cat. They would try and no way.”
Elvis tragically died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 16, 1977. He was just 42.
A brooding Elvis in the 1950s. HBO
Priscilla said the root of Elvis’ desperate addiction was his stint in the U.S. Army.
He and Priscilla had married in 1967 and they welcomed their daughter Lisa Marie the following year.
They divorced in 1973 but Priscilla remained the rock ‘n’ roll star’s beneficiary when he died. As the head of Elvis Presley Enterprises, she turned Graceland into one of the top tourist attractions in America.
Priscilla said Elvis drug problems began during his stint in the U.S. Army. HBO
Priscilla blames her ex-husband’s addiction on his brief stint in the US Army.
“They gave them (drugs) to the soldiers over there to keep them awake. He had manoeuvres that he had to do late at night, so the pills were given to the guys and that’s how he started,” she told the documentary makers.
“And if you take a sleeping pill, you have to do something to get yourself awake. He was in uncharted territory, he truly was, and he did this and tried to do this alone.”
Elvis, Priscilla and their daughter Lisa Marie.
But it isn’t the first time whispers have emerged that the beloved singer may have orchestrated his own demise.
In December, “suicide” notes allegedly written by Elvis emerged. They were to his longtime pal and road manager Joe Esposito.
One note only hinted at his depression: “I’m sick and tired of my life. I need a long rest.”
And he was humiliated by the fact he couldn’t get clean and called losing Priscilla (they divorced in 1973) “the greatest mistake of my life”.
His step-brother, Rick Stanley, told Radar Online: “The handwritten note appears to be genuine. To me, it’s a clear indication that suicide was on his mind.”
The new two-part HBO documentary premieres April 14.
Priscilla Presley’s shocking claim: ‘Elvis committed suicide’ | Toronto Sun

I thought he died of constipation?

 

[coldstream]

I suppose someone who gorges vast quantities prescription opioids for a decade and more has some kind of death wish. But i doubt it was specific and intentional.

 

[Curious Cdn]

I suppose someone who gorges vast quantities prescription opioids for a decade and more has some kind of death wish. But i doubt it was specific and intentional.

Could have been. Gorging vast quantities of prescription opioids would not leave your head in a proper place.

 

[Danbones]

No one is immune to success.

 

[captain morgan]

Buddy was on top of the world for so long.

That pressure and expectations must have weighed pretty heavily on him

 

[Murphy]

I suppose someone who gorges vast quantities prescription opioids for a decade and more has some kind of death wish. But i doubt it was specific and intentional.

I do not believe that it was intentional either. As his fame grew, and more demands were put on his time, uppers and downers were introduced into his routine. Like other celebrities, I think he became trapped and addicted.

 

[Curious Cdn]

I do not believe that it was intentional either. As his fame grew, and more demands were put on his time, uppers and downers were introduced into his routine. Like other celebrities, I think he became trapped and addicted.

Take note, Justin Bieber, before you are the subject of our "thoughts and prayers".

 

[Walter]

Elvis is alive and well and lives near Tweed, ON.

 

[Curious Cdn]

Elvis is alive and well and lives near Tweed, ON.

He lives by the Mighty Moira now, eh?

My wife and I saw him in Rutland Vermont.

 

[petros]

Take note, Justin Bieber, before you are the subject of our "thoughts and prayers".

Bieber found Jesus and is clean.

 

[Murphy]

I hear Elvis is a tour guide at Graceland. He impersonates a fat, female fan, Emily Roundtree, 66, of nearby Collierville, TN. Emily likes to hang around the jungle room and loves peanut butter and bacon sammiches.

 

[darkbeaver]

And?

 

[Murphy]

That's it. Except that Elvis is now a 225 lb black woman.

If you'd like, I can make up a story.

 

[darkbeaver]

That's it. Except that Elvis is now a 225 lb black woman.

If you'd like, I can make up a story.

I like storys. Make up a tale cuz the dead Elvis thing has beeen doone! Elvis was an Alien maybe anything please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elvis made more money dead than alive, there,s a story there, lots of rooms for Aliens, sexual perverts, transgender combinations and crspr vegetables,

 

[Murphy]

I can tell you an Elvis story that no one has ever heard. It even has a Canadian twist.

I have to start by explaining that August is a bad month for me. I had a lot of musician friends pass away, or pass on, or whatever, in late summer. The deaths aren't sad in and of themselves. Death is just an exit to the next adventure. But when people die, their passing is a selfish thing. Not for the deceased, but for us. We feel hurt, angry or sad when someone close to us ascends. Did you know that the word 'Why' is the number one interrogative word we utter when someone shuffles off? Every one says the same thing.

It was August, 1977. This was the month that I decided to chuck my university studies and hit the road with our band, Ski-Daddle. For three years, we played clubs and fairs around northern and central Ontario. The money was okay. Enough for tuition and to bankroll a single guy's fun.

In early 1977, myself and my best bud, Sledge, scored some tickets to an April Wine appearance at a Toronto club you might know - the El Macombo. We definitely weren't A listers, but we knew or played with many of the guys in many of the Canadian bands making it big in the 1970s. That was the scene at the time - a loose association of Canadian boys who hung around together, lending moral and musical support to our buds.

April Wine was formed in Halifax in 1969. A bunch of guys with no particular direction, except a love for ganja and making music. I think it was a surprise for them when things clicked and they started making money. So things were going good for them, and they were booked for the El in the spring of 1977. A few of us got tickets because of connections. I hadn't seen them since they made a mess of an Ottawa hotel room in late 1976. One of their roadies bought some bad wine and people were losing their lunch all over. Stinky. But the ganja was always primo in Ottawa.

Fast forward to the spring of 1977, and the El. We didn't know that the Stones were going to be there. I guess a lot has been written about that night, and a bunch of well known people hanging out back stage - one of whom was Maggie Trudeau. She really was there, but despite what has been written about her and Mick getting it on that night, it's BS. There were actually three or four rooms and corridors back stage, jam packed with people. Nothing went on, but the press loved making up stories.

So me, Sledge and some others spent a long night bumping into people we hadn't seen in a while. It was also the night we met a plump, blonde haired Elvis impersonator named 'Elvis'. He did what every impersonator did - he shook his hips, thanked everybody very much and did those stupid karate moves. Fat guys trying to be karate kids should be put down. Seriously.

About 3AM, it gets pretty stuffy, I'm hungry and need air. Sledge, Elvis and me cut out of there and went to a Mr. Sub for something to eat. We needed to get away from the noise and sweaty bodies.

'Elvis' says he's picking up the tab. Too easy. We get our sammiches and sit down at the window. Elvis takes off his blonde wig and says, "Man, this thing is hot! I couldn't wait to get out of there and get it off!"

Sledge looks at him and says, "You ARE Elvis!" And had a sip of bad coffee.

Elvis grinned. He had one of those smiles that girls swooned over. Even fat, and with a puffy face, Elvis could put you at ease with his smile and a couple of jokes. He was very soft spoken.

I asked him what he was doing in Toronto and he told me Mick had invited him up.

"Are you even friends with the Stones?" I asked, "You guys don't travel in the same circles."

He explained that a musician is a musician and he was a fan of their Sticky Fingers LP. Cool. So were we.

"I got outta Graceland for some rest. That place is crazy. It used to be a safe haven I could go to and relax, but it's not like that anymore! Everyone wants a piece of me. There's not enough to go around, so I took off. My cousin took me to the airport, and I left. But I gotta be back to see the doctor. We're also working up another tour."

He smiled, but it was a sad one. He was a wreck. You could see he was wiped out. Sledge said later that you could tell Elvis was taking a ton of prescription drugs. Sad. We didn't know then, but he would be 'dead' in five months. At least we had the chance to hang out with him and have something to eat.

The truth be told, he 'died', but went underground and worked for years as a tour guide at Graceland. He became Emily Livingstone. It was a natural fit. he knew the place like the back of his hand, having been there for all the renos since 1956. Although he became an older black lady, he still wore a silly blonde wig. Lisa Marie knew, but none of the staff, past or present, had any idea who 'she' was. He worked at Graceland as Emily until 1998.

I'll bet you didn't know that 'Emily' went to Lisa Marie's wedding to Michael Jackson. Since he had become black, Emily blended in with MJ's friends in the Dominican in 1994.

So a five months before Elvis 'died', he was a guest at the El Macombo, and I had the chance to eat with him at Mr. Sub. It wasn't glamourous or exciting, but the truth rarely is.

 

[Curious Cdn]

I remember when Elvis died. I was having a non-stop sex weekend with a voluptuous and very pleasant blonde.




Crap, I'm getting old.

 

[Murphy]

Elvis is not dead. He's a 83 year old black lady living in Collierville, TN.

 

[darkbeaver]

Dead Elvises can,t take things off the shelves!

 

[Murphy]

Absolutely, but Elvis isn't dead yet. Did you know that in 1980, he put out contracts on several impersonators that he didn't like? Yeah, he was a nice guy, but he had a wicked side.