, the undisputed King of Rock and Roll, would have been 90 years old if tragedy hadn’t cut his life short.
The iconic Jailhouse Rock star was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of at the age of 42, with his pyjama bottoms tragically around his ankles .
His sudden demise sent shockwaves across the globe, fuelling wild speculation about the cause of his death.
In his final months, Elvis’s health had taken a nosedive; he put on three and a half stone and suffered from a myriad of issues including obesity, constipation, paranoia, and depression.
The once energetic performer who captivated audiences with his hip-swinging performances had become a shadow of his former self, barely able to leave his bed.
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Elvis Presley died aged just 42 in 1977 (Image: Getty)
The abrupt end of Elvis left fans worldwide in disbelief, yearning for answers about the circumstances surrounding the premature departure of the Mississippi-born legend.
However, the true cause of his death remains shrouded in mystery, as his family has kept the autopsy results under wraps for half a century which sparked various experts have come forward with their theories regarding what really happened, reports .
It was Elvis’s then-girlfriend, Ginger Alden, then 21 who discovered him in a harrowing state on the bathroom floor, and recounted: “His arms lay on the ground, close to his sides, palms facing upward. It was clear that, from the moment he landed on the floor, Elvis hadn’t moved. I gently turned his face toward me.”
An autopsy was conducted on the same day, but the findings were immediately sealed, fuelling a flurry of speculation about the cause of his death.
Dan Warlick, chief investigator for the Tennessee Office of the State Chief Medical Examiner, attended the autopsy and supported the popular theory that Elvis died while straining to use the toilet.
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Elvis Presley’s autopsy will soon be unveiled (Image: Getty)
He once stated: “Presley’s chronic constipation – the result of years of prescription drug abuse and high-fat, high-cholesterol gorging – brought on what’s known as Valsalva’s maneuver. Put simply, the strain of attempting to defecate compressed the singer’s abdominal aorta, shutting down his heart.”
Others claimed he had died from a drug overdose, but when the investigation was reopened in 1994, coroner Joseph Davis disagreed and explained: “The position of ‘s body was such that he was about to sit down on the commode when the seizure occurred. He pitched forward onto the carpet, his rear in the air, and was dead by the time he hit the floor.”
“If it had been a drug overdose, [Elvis] would have slipped into an increasing state of slumber. He would have pulled up his pyjama bottoms and crawled to the door to seek help. It takes hours to die from drugs.”
The autopsy results are set to be revealed in 2027, but until then, the most significant insight into the star’s enigmatic death has come from renowned California physician, Forest Tennant, who had the opportunity to review the report while defending Elvis’ doctor, Dr. George Nichopoulos, who was later cleared of over-prescribing drugs.
For Mr Tennant, a major clue lay in the full-body deterioration of Elvis, with nearly every organ suffering from poor health. As a young man, Elvis had been incredibly fit, engaging in football and martial arts.
He did begin abusing drugs such as amphetamines, opioids and sedatives as a teenager and is known to have had a dreadful diet.
However, for Tennant, this wasn’t sufficient to account for the extensive list of ailments that plagued the rock star from the late 1960s onwards.
Initially, he complained of vertigo, back pain, insomnia, eye infections and headaches, and in 1973 he was rushed to hospital in a semi-coma and found to be suffering from jaundice, severe respiratory distress, marked facial swelling, distended abdomen, constipation, a gastric, bleeding ulcer and hepatitis.
Elvis also had at least four near-death overdoses that left him unconscious and in need of resuscitation, and his heart was double the normal size.