Modern Era · North America · Culture

1977

Elvis dies at Graceland

August 16, 1977

A forty-two-year-old man in a bathroom at his Memphis mansion collapsed and was found dead by his girlfriend. His heart, surrounded by a body made sick by pills and cheeseburgers, had given out. Seventy-five thousand fans gathered outside the gates. The king of rock and roll, who had sold a billion records, was gone.