Presley was honored with countless Elvis Presley days around the country, and the
U.S, Jaycees named him one of the ten most outstanding young men of America in 1970.
His birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi was opened to the public and a portion of
Highway 61 South that ran in front of Graceland was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard.
That October Presley had his last Top ten hit "Burning Love" (#2).Meanwhile Presley's personal life had become the subject of countless
tabloids.In February 1972, Presley separated from Priscilla and on his
birthday in 1973 filed for divorce. Less than a week later the TV special
Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii was broadcast over satellite to over a billion
people in forty countries, an indication of his international appeal although
(with the exception of three dates in Canada in 1957 and an impromptu performance
in Paris while on leave in 1959) Presley never performed outside the United
States. During his career Presley had 94 gold singles, three gold EPs, and over
40 gold albums. His movies grossed over $180 million and millions more were made
by the merchandising of Elvis products, the rights which were controlled by Colonel
ParkerOutwardly, Presley was more popular than ever and one of the biggest personality
cults in modern history was taking hold. Off stage Presley was plagued with self
doubt, poor management, and a basic dissatisfaction with his life. He repeatedly
threatened to quit show business, but debts and financial obligations to his large
extended family, employees, and assorted hangers on made that impossible. Presley
turned to drugs. After leaving the army he became wary of the public and would
often rent whole movie theatres and amusement parks that he would visit at night.
By the late Sixties he was an almost total recluse. Although there was evidence
that Presley began taking drugs shortly after began performing or while in the army,
his abuse of prescription drugs increased during the last years of his life. Through
all this he remained highly spiritual and publicly denounced the use of recreational
drugs.Toward the end of his life he would babble incoherently on stage and rip his pants,
having grown quite obese, and at least once collapsed on stage. Despite deteriorating
health, Presley maintained a frantic tour schedule, because in 1973 Colonel Parker
negotiated a deal with RCA to the rights of many of his masters in exchange for a
lump sum payment of which only 2.8 million came to him. After 1973, Parker was earning
nearly 50% commission. Worse yet Presley wasn't earning royalties on records recorded
before 1973, although they continued to sell millions. Presley opposed tax shelters on
principle; naively relied on his father for business advice; gave away expensive gifts
and cash. The result was by the mid-Seventies was an impending financial disasterJune 26, 1977 Presley performed live for the last time in Indianapolis.
On August
16, 1977, the day before his next scheduled concert, Presley was discovered by his
girlfriend Ginger Alden dead in his bathroom at Graceland. His death was attributed
to congestive heart failure. A later autopsy revealed advanced hardening of the
arteries and an enlarged liver. Later it was determined that drug abuse may have
been a contributing factor. in September 1979 Presley's private doctor Dr. George
Nichopoulos was charged by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners with
indiscriminately prescribing 5,300 and vials in the seven months before his
death. He was later acquitted.Thousands gathered at Graceland where his body lay in state before he was
buried in a mausoleum at Forest Hills Cemetery in Memphis. After attempts to
break into the mausoleum, Presley's body and that of his mother were moved to the
Meditation Garden behind Graceland. Nearly two years later, Vernon died and was
also buried there. The estate now passed on to Lisa Marie.Court battles over the estate ended in June 1983 after twenty one months of
litigation withettlement of four lawsuits. Colonel Parker was forced to
turn over most of his interests in Presley's audio and visual recordings to RCA
and the Presley family in return for a large monetary settlement. Priscillia
Presley assumed control of the estate and through a number of business moves
made Presley's estate more valuable than it had ever been. The cornerstone of
the Elvis Presley Enterprise, Inc. financial empire is the Tennessee state law
Priscillia Presley pushed for that guarantees to his heirs of commercial rights
to the deceased celebrity's image and likeness. As a result Elvis Presley is a
trademark and anyone selling Presley related memorabilia in the U.S. must pay EPE
an advance fee plus a royalty on every item sold.
Claiming the funds were needed to maintain the property, Priscillia
opened Graceland to the public in 1982. Though not maintained exactly
as Elvis left it and the second floor, where the bedroom was remains off
limits to the public, millions from all over the world have visited Graceland.
Approximately 675,000 people visit Graceland yearly. The Presley estate in now
estimated at well over a $100 million.Presley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.