“The handwritten note appears to be genuine,” said Presley's stepbrother Rick Stanley. “To me, it’s a clear indication that suicide was on his mind.”
Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 22, 2022. It has since been updated.
Trigger Warning: This story mentions suicide and drug abuse which may be disturbing for readers.
Elvis Presley, whose musical excellence remains unmatched, was only 42 years old when he died in 1977 from a drug-related heart attack.
There has been a lot of speculation around his death, but in 2018, after HBO released a documentary about Presley, it was revealed that he did write suicide notes, hinting that he was done with life.
What's disturbing is that at least one of these notes was written a mere seven months before his death, leading people to believe that he knew he was going to die all along.
Presley's friend and road manager, Joe Esposito, told Radar, before his death in 2016, that he discovered one of the two notes next to the legend’s lifeless body on the day he died at his Memphis home, Graceland on August 16.
Esposito said that not only did he burn the letter to hide it from his family and investigators, but he also disposed of the stash of prescription painkillers that Presley was known to consume.
“It was better to protect his family and his legacy by hiding everything — the note and his pills,” Esposito said, adding that in the letter, Elvis confessed, “losing Priscilla was the greatest mistake of his life — and he couldn’t recover from the heartache.”
The King of Rock and Roll apparently also wrote that he was “embarrassed I can’t kick drugs” and felt “betrayed” by his overweight body.
The second note, written in January 1977, showed that Presly was just about done with his life. “I need a long rest,” the legendary singer wrote. “I’m sick and tired of my life.”
“If it wasn’t for my prayers, I think my life would end. My willpower is almost gone." Presley sent the second message to Billy Miller, a member of the Memphis Mafia, who kept its contents secret for a long time, too.
“The handwritten note appears to be genuine,” said Presley's stepbrother Rick Stanley. “To me, it’s a clear indication that suicide was on his mind.”
Presley's ex-wife, Priscilla Presley also spoke about his addiction in the 2018 HBO documentary, Elvis Presley: The Searcher. According to Daily Mail, Priscilla said he "knew what he was doing."
She also revealed that she and her loved ones tried their best to wean him off drugs, but in vain. "People go, well why didn't anyone do anything? Well, that's not true. People there in the inner group did, but you did not tell Elvis Presley what to do. You did not. I mean, you'd be out of there faster than a scratched cat. They would try and no way."
Priscilla then added that his deployment in Germany as a soldier is what got him into the habit of drug-taking. "They gave them (drugs) to the soldiers over there to keep them awake. He had maneuvers that he had to do late at night, so the pills were given to the guys and that's how he started."
"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."
Presley's body was found by his then-lover, Ginger Alden, on the day of his death.
References:
https://radaronline.com/videos/elvis-presley-suicide-note-intentional-overdose/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Keystone
