I heard a rumour that Elvis really died while he was in the Army and they covered it up by having an Elvis impersonator take his place.



Could it be true?

;-)

In my opinion, Elvis' exit is near the top of embarrassing celebrity deaths.

Having a heart attack while trying to pinch a loaf with your bloodstream full of pills and your lower intestine full of cheeseburgers lacks a fair bit of dignity.

Besides, he was hardly at the peak of his talent. His best work had all been twenty years before his death, and he had settled into a self indulgent caricature of himself. I've always found it laughable, elevating this lightly talented, self-destructive hillbilly into "Saint Elvis."

Elvis death was very tragic to me. I know it affected a lot of his fans. Come on people. The day that he died I met my girlfriend who told me how they had met him by staying up all night. I also met a guy who used to go visit him in Graceland. I will always remember him and his music. He was an unforgettable singer. I do regret not having seen him. Sometimes I think of tagging along with my friend if he was going. I don't know if I could have. The SF one was all sold out. He also had his wonderful Christian faith. The man that went to see him was also a big Christian. I don't think it was bad really dying reading a book about Jesus. I like the song that is about seeing his ghost in Memphis. J my friend told me he is in heaven now.

Never was too big an Elvis fan, but yeah, his death was tragic-he wasnt that old, although his best work was behind him when he died.

I cannot be sympathetic to someone who has everything in the world and who is still so pitiful they must destroy themselves. He chose to be a celebrity, and anyone could tell that he loved the glitz and glamour of it. So just deal with it for cryin' out loud! Poor lonely Elvis, all doped up to overcome his pain...please!

The great tragedy of Elvis was not his passing but that he went down so slow and in such a public way.  His massive success at such an early age was a lifelong albatross.  He was hampered as an artist by business people and fans who wanted the same stuff from him over and over and he fell into a state of sad commercial mediocrity by the middle of his career.  In 1968 he was somehow miraculously kick started creatively but it only lasted a few years.  The same demons of excess that took him away from his love of music in the post army period got the better of him in the last 5 years of his life.

By the time of his death Elvis was done doing anything new, so did the music world miss out on anything?

UPDATE: Here we go. Now I'm heartless because I realize the sad truth that hard living catches up to people and sometimes those people die on the crapper. I think its best that Elvis died when he did since he was done doing anything significant musically and he probably wasn't enjoying himself anymore. It would be even cooler, however, if he faked his death and lived in peace without all the pressure.

I find it so amazing...that folks have so many negative opinions about others...when they didn't live their life or walk in their shoes. No one has the right to critize him...unless they "FIRST HAND" knew what it took to maintain his success and career...or deal with the people that were in his life...that had wrong motives and did not have his best interest at heart. He had such a love and appreciation for his fans and wanted to bless everyone he came in contact with... He was human like the rest of us...and did the best he could to handle the pressure and stress that he was under. I for one..."STILL" am very proud to have been his "LOYAL" fan and "ALWAYS" will be...

I have to agree with the sentiments expressed by Numbah and Djahuti below, pretty much. Not really tragic in the way the deaths of Brian Jones or Kurt Cobain could be considered tragic. No real sense of unfulfilled expectations or promise. I wasn't alive during Presley's heyday, so maybe my feelings aren't quite as strong as someone who was, or who considered themselves a fan. By the time I became aware of him, Elvis was sort of a Las-Vegas-style nostalgia act who made a series of very boring movies. That's not to say I disliked him; I actually liked the song "In The Ghetto" which I think came out in the late 60's. I think his death qualifies as just plain sad, rather than tragic. How disconnected was he from normal human experiences during those last, bloated years? Didn't anybody think to say to him, "Elvis, you really need to lay off the pills" or "Elvis, those bacon-fat-and-peanut-butter sandwiches really aren't the most healthful thing you could eat" or "Elvis, that movie where you play a doctor and Mary Tyler Moore a nun is a mistake." Apparently, far too many people were dependent on Presley financially or considered him too Godlike to approach him in such a forthright manner. Dennis Miller made a joke that Elvis has to be dead, because if he weren't, he would have showed up to prevent his daughter from marrying Whacko Jacko...

It would have been a lot more tragic had he died young and healthy in an accident.Still,it's sad that a man so loved by his fans was so depressed that he sped up his own demise.His music had gotten pretty stale by then,but his early stuff on SUN Records was amazing,considering the time and cultural context.