"MY SON IS DEAD!"

KING OF ROCK 'N ROLL DIES AT 42

Memphis, Tennessee (JFK+50) On August 16, 1977, Elvis Aaron Presley*, acclaimed as the 'King of Rock 'n Roll,' passed away suddenly at his Graceland home here in Memphis.

Elvis was found motionless in his bathroom at 1:30 p.m. local time by his girlfriend Ginger Alder.  He was rushed to Baptist Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m.

An announcement was made by father Vernon Presley, who said...

"My son is dead!"

Elvis, age 42, was scheduled to fly to Portland, Maine that evening to continue his 1977 concert tour.

JFK+50 NOTE

An autopsy indicated Elvis had 'mild hypertension' and 'undetected coronary disease,' but said nothing about drugs or lifestyle.  Death came four minutes after a coronary arrhythmia.

According to John Beifuss of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, later press reports state that Elvis had evidence of 14 drugs in his blood including codeine and morphine.

*Elvis Aaron Presley (1935-1977) was born in Tupelo, Mississippi & moved to Memphis, TN at age 13.  EAP signed with Sun Records in 1954 & RCA Victor in 1955.  

EP's 1st hit single went #1, 'Heartbreak Hotel.' RCA sold 10 million Elvis singles in a year.  EP made his debut in films in 1956 with 'Love Me Tender' & served in the U.S. Army.

SOURCES

"Elvis Presley Dies At Graceland," JFK+50, August 16, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

"What was the real cause of Elvis Presley's death?  A look back at the King's 1977 death," by John Beifuss, August 15, 2025, Commercial Appeal, www.commercialappeal.com/

Elvis Presley

Publicity Photo

"Stage Show" 

CBS Television

Jan 16 1956

www.ebay.com/

"I HAD A MEMBER OF MY FAMILY KILLED"

DR. KING PRONOUNCED DEAD ONE HOUR AFTER BEING SHOT IN MEMPHIS 

Memphis, Tennessee (JFK+50) At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot as he stood on the second-floor balcony outside Room #306 of the Lorraine Motel here in Memphis.

A bullet, fired from a 30-06 Remington Model 760 Gamemaster* rifle, struck Dr. King in the jaw and ranged downward severing his spinal cord.  He was pronounced dead at a local hospital about an hour later.  MLK was 39 years old.

Dr. King's associates on the scene believed the shot came from the rear of a nearby rooming house.  The rifle and other evidence were found nearby.

The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. triggered a series of nationwide riots in more than a hundred cities with deaths and property damage.

Later, James Earl Ray** was charged with the murder, found guilty & sentenced to 99 years in prison.  

Robert F. Kennedy, campaigning in Indianapolis, learned of the death of Dr. King and announced it to a crowd of people including many African-Americans.  RFK said...

"For those of you who are black and (are) filled with hatred...of the injustice of such an act against all white people, I can feel the same kind of feeling.  I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man."

*Remington Model 760 is a pump-action centerfire rifle which uses a detachable box magazine.  More than 1 million units were produced from 1952 to 1981 

**James Earl Ray (1928-1998) was born in Alton, Illinois the oldest of 9 children.  JER joined the US Army at the end of WWII & served in Germany.  He served time in prison for armed robbery, mail fraud & theft before being charged with the murder of MLK.

SOURCES

"Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.," Stanford University, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute, www.kinginstitute.stanford.edu/

"Martin Luther King, Jr.:  55 years after his assassination," by Alonso Martinez, April 3, 2023, EL PAIS, www.english.elpais.com/

View from Rooming House of Lorraine Motel

Memphis, Tennessee

Photo by John White

June 6 2008

Sniper's Window

Memphis, Tennessee

Photo by John White

June 6 2008