The King of Rock 'n' Roll battled obesity, prescription drug abuse, loneliness, and heartbreak after losing his wife Priscilla, in his last days.
Many people who live complex, complicated lives are likely to have come from broken homes, which may have ignited their passion for escaping to a make-belief world where all is well. While some of them become stars, their emotional pain doesn't necessarily heal, and their personal lives suffer because of that.
Elvis Presley grew up in a low-income household but was the center of his parents' universe, and they helped egg on his love for music. He also started working early in life to support his family, according to Graceland's website. The difficulties he faced while growing up because of their financial struggles likely left a deep scar within him. It may have manifested in different ways, one of which was his life of excess after becoming a star.
The King of Rock 'n' Roll battled obesity, prescription drug abuse, loneliness, and heartbreak after losing his wife Priscilla, in his last days, according to Express UK. Letetia Henley, who was his live-in nurse and was with him during his final chapter, opened up about his last days.
"I saw the ups and downs," said the nurse. "He was not only my patient but a good friend. In the end, he was depressed, overweight, and lethargic with a passion for pills. But his death came as a complete shock."
Presley was only 42 when he died in Graceland. "He was very miserable. He was depressed about aging and not having a woman he loved. He missed Priscilla. His friends kept pimping him with pretty 17 and 18-year-old girls but he had nothing in common with them. To the world, he seemed to have it all but he had things missing in his life and that pained him," added she.
The In the Ghetto singer never stopped loving Priscilla even after their divorce. He was 10 years older than her and she was only 14 when they met. They got married when Priscilla was 21 and the marriage lasted for six years. They welcomed a daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, his only known heir, during that time.
However, being married to one of the most famous men of that time was not easy. "Moving into Graceland, he already had his inner circle," Priscilla revealed, according to CountryLiving. "Of course they embraced me, but I never realized that that was it. We didn't go out. He didn't like eating in restaurants because people would take pictures of him and he didn't want to be shot...putting a fork in his mouth," she added. "We literally lived in a bubble," she said.
They had a complicated relationship and during their marriage, he allegedly never wanted to see her without makeup. "There are things you keep to yourself," she explained. "He never wanted to see me getting dressed. He wanted to see the result of getting dressed."
Eventually, the bubble burst, and Priscilla sought freedom from her golden cage. She said that even as a teenager she didn't live like a "normal girl" and was living his life with him. She left him because she "needed to find out what the world was like."
They had an amicable divorce and the King even sang a hit Dolly Parton love song to Priscilla when they were leaving the courtroom where they divorced. Dolly Parton shared the anecdote that Priscilla once shared with her. Presley reportedly sang I Will Always Love You to his soon to be ex-wife.
Writing in The Big Issue’s Letter To My Younger Self, Dolly Parton said, "I know he loved the song. Priscilla told me later that he sang that song to her when they were coming down the steps of the courthouse after they divorced. That really touched me." Parton and Presley reportedly had a tiff over the song previously.
References:
https://www.graceland.com/early-childhood
https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/606337/The-last-days-Elvis-drugs-obesity-and-a-nurse
https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a40609/priscilla-presley-on-life-with-elvis/
