How Did Elvis Presley Die? A Look Back at the King of Rock and Roll's Tragic End

Elvis Presley‘s death was a titular moment in music history. The news shocked fans worldwide, who couldn’t believe their favorite entertainer had passed. But how did Elvis Presley die? Here’s a look at the king of rock and roll’s tragic end.

Elvis Presley’s last hours in detail

Just one day after his untimely passing, Elvis was scheduled to begin a dozen-date tour that would have kept him on the road through the end of August 1977. Therefore, his unexpected death left ticketholders with legacy mementos and a sense of what could have been.

One day before his death, Elvis Presley spent the day with his fiance Ginger Alden and his daughter, Lisa Marie. He visited his dentist at 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 15, returning to Graceland in the early morning hours of Aug. 16, 1977.

Reportedly still in pain from seeing the dentist, Elvis was prescribed Dilaudid by his physician. He sent his stepbrother Ricky Stanley to pick up the medication from a drugstore, reported Express.

At 4 a.m., unable to sleep, Elvis asked Ginger, cousin Billy Smith and his wife Jo to play a game of racquetball. They played a short game, and then Elvis played two songs on the piano located within the indoor court area, including “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”

It wasn’t until 5 a.m. that Elvis retired to his bedroom with Ginger. He then took pills prescribed to him by his doctor George Nichopoulos.

He reportedly took a second package of the same pills at 7 a.m., which were only prescribed for twice daily use. At 8 am, still unable to sleep, Elvis reportedly called Nichopoulos for more drugs and was given two valmids, used to treat insomnia. 

At 9:30 am on Aug. 16, Elvis reportedly told Alden he was going to the bathroom. She allegedly told him not to fall asleep on the toilet.

Elvis Presley’s died within five hours of retiring to his bathroom to read

Within five hours of Elvis Presley retiring to his bathroom to read, he was dead. However, Ginger Alden wrote in her book Elvis & Ginger that she awoke at 2 p.m. and that she initially didn’t think anything was amiss with the king of rock and roll when she found Elvis had not returned to bed.

However, when she checked on Elvis in the bathroom, she saw the king of rock and roll had fallen and called for help. By 2:30, emergency services arrived and began trying to resuscitate Elvis. Within a half-hour, his body was brought to Baptist Hospital for doctors to continue to revive him.

Elvis was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2023. He was 42 years old.

Lisa Marie Presley was visiting her father when he died

Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie was visiting Graceland during her school break when Elvis died. She was scheduled to return to Los Angeles and her mother, Priscilla.

Priscilla wrote about having to tell Lisa Marie that Elvis had died. She told her story in the book Elvis and Me. “Lisa was outside on the lawn with a friend, riding around on the golf cart that her father had given her,” Priscilla recalled.

“At first, I was amazed that she could play at a time like this, but when I talked to her, I realized that the full impact of what happened hadn’t hit her yet. She’d seen the paramedics rushing Elvis away, and he was still at the hospital when I’d arrived, so Lisa was confused,” Priscilla recalled. 

“Again, I was really at a loss for words,” Priscilla wrote. “She was our child. It was difficult enough for me to believe and confront Elvis’s death myself. I didn’t know how to tell her she would never see her daddy again.”

“I nodded, then took her into my arms,” she concluded. “We hugged, and then she ran out and started riding around in her golf cart again. But now I was glad she could play. I knew it was her way of avoiding reality.”

Elvis Presley’s death anniversary is memorialized each year with a candlelight vigil held on the grounds of his Graceland home. A week of Elvis-themed events is capped off by the memorial, where fans light candles and proceed to Elvis’ gravesite yearly, beginning in the late hours of Aug. 15.

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