ELVIS, THE KING OF ROCK ’N’ ROLL, DIES

Press, 18 August 1977, Page 14

ELVIS, THE KING OF ROCK ’N’ ROLL, DIES

Memphis (Tennessee) Elvis Presley, the gyrating “king” of Rock ’n Roll who changed the face of music two decades ago when he growled “You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog,” died at his mansion of an “erratic heartbeat. The 42-year-old singer—- “ Elvis the Pelvis” when he burst upon the music world in the mid-1950s — “died face-down on the floor of a bathroom at his mansion, Graceland, in Tennessee. He was found there by his road manager, Joe Esposito, at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, local time (7.30 a.m. yesterday, N.Z. time).

Dr Jerry Francisco, an official medical examiner, has said that Presley died of “cardiac arythmia,” which he described as a severely irregular heartbeat. He said it had been brought about by “undetermined causes.” Both Dr Francisco and Dr George Nichopoulos, Presley’s personal physician, said there was "no evidence of any illegal drug use.” However. Memphis police officials have suggested drugs may have been involved. The strain that came with fame had taken its

physical toll on Presley long before his death. Noticeably overweight during the last few years, Presley had been plagued with problems of hypertension and an enlarged colon. He had been admitted the times in the last four years for treatment at Baptist Hospital, Memphis. There had been reports that Presley was fighting an unsuccessful battle with his middle-age spread because of his seclusion at Graceland, but doctors said an intestinal blockage caused by a “twisting of the lower colon” was causing his health problems.