Elvis Presley’s death exposed 47 years after the King of Rock n Roll’s tragic demise

Elvis Presley will forever be remembered as the King of Rock n Roll.

However, the iconic musician’s tragic death aged just 42 sent shockwaves around the world. The Suspicious Minds singer died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977, leaving his global fanbase devastated.

In the years that have followed, a number of theories surrounding his passing have hit the headlines, but an Elvis expert has now debunked many of the myths and is intent on setting the record straight. Sally A Hoedel, author of Destined to Die Young, carried out extensive research in a bid to get to the bottom of Elvis’ demise and try to halt all the “sensationalised” stories that have continued to follow the star since his passing.

Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, Sally revealed anyone eagerly awaiting the star’s autopsy to be “released” in 2027 will be hugely disappointed, saying it is actually already available. She told us: “The myth of the autopsy report being released in 2027 continues to plague him. First, it suggests some smoking gun, which is just not the case. Second, it is a private family document and they will not be required to release it upon the 50th anniversary of his death. I believe this rumour began just over pure confusion.

“According to Tennessee State Law, it is the death certificate that will be made public in 2027, not the autopsy report. The autopsy report and its contents are very much public already…there is no big mystery waiting to be revealed.”

Reiterating her point, Sally described how Elvis’ death wasn’t quite the “gruesome” and “dramatic” demise that many continue to claim. While she admitted his drug abuse and unhealthy lifestyle certainly wouldn’t have aided his health, she said his passing could have been more closely linked with a genetic issue.

“The simplistic idea is that it was a drug overdose and that he ate himself to death. Both are as far from the truth as you can get,” she added. “There’s absolutely zero evidence of a drug overdose death; zero. It was a very quick heart-related issue.”

While Sally continued to say Elvis “absolutely” had a medication problem, she said his genetics would have likely meant his life was destined to end prematurely.

Opening up on his health issues being linked with a genetic condition, Sally said: “I don’t think he would have had a long life, given everything that was wrong with him and especially the heart and liver disorder that is present in his family. The heart issue is not necessarily recognisable. We don’t know what that is, but it’s absolutely precedent. We see it in the family, even his father died. There is young related death on the Presley side of the family too.”

She explained how she tried to dive into why such a young person like Elvis had a number of geriatric diseases. “It’s not normal for a 30-something-year-old to have glaucoma. It’s normally genetic in nature if you get it that young,” she said. “So, researching it and discovering his maternal grandparents were first cousins – that doubling of the gene pool creates a lot of issues and we see it, and it makes sense, right?

“It’s been talked about before I talked about it, but it was always talked about in a sensationalised way as opposed to what would the consequences be of that marriage? Because they’re very real. And we see it in Gladys, his mother, and three of her brothers and then by the time it gets to Elvis, in my opinion, just from a common sense standpoint, but certainly an unscientific one. It’s just undeniable that there are factors there and consequences so his mother dies at 46.”

Gladys, Elvis’ mother died of a heart attack, but Sally says her doctor had also been at a loss as to what her liver disease was, with Sally also saying this had to play a big part in her death. Sally went on to discuss Elvis’ mother’s brother’s deaths at a young age too, at 46, 49, and 59, all from liver, heart, and lung-related illnesses.