Elvis Presley Publicly Threatened to Kill Anyone Who Spoke About His Drug Use
In the final years of Elvis Presley’s life, those close to him began to worry about his use of drugs. His declining health even appeared apparent to those who only knew him as a public figure; many reviews of his live performances said he looked unwell. Elvis denied using drugs, however. During one concert, he bemoaned the rumors about his use and threatened anyone who spread them.
Elvis Presley told an audience he’d kill anyone who accused him of using drugs
In the 1970s, Elvis spent a good deal of time at his concerts monologuing to the audience. Amid one lengthy speech, he addressed the rumors about his drug use after he spent time in the hospital.
“I hear rumors flying around — I got sick in the hospital,” he said, per the book Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick. “In this day and time you can’t even get sick. You are [dramatic pause] strung out. By God, I’ll tell you something, friend, I have never been — strung out in my life, except on music.”
He claimed he had the flu, but had heard nothing but rumors about his drug use. He shared what he would do if people ever said anything like that to his face.
“I told them earlier, and don’t you get offended, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking to someone else, if I find or hear an individual that has said that about me, I’m going to break their goddamn neck, you SONOFAB****. That is DANGEROUS. I will pull your goddamn tongue out BY THE ROOTS.”
With that, he introduced “Hawaiian Wedding Song” and sang it for the crowd.
Priscilla Presley said the mid-concert ramblings shocked her
Elvis’ ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, was in the audience for this rant. She said his words shocked her. Elvis typically didn’t speak so honestly in public.
“I was in shock,” she said. “Because [in the past] he would never, ever let on to the audience what his emotions were. You know, singing was always his way of venting his emotions, how he felt about something — and he’d get onstage and sing his heart out … This was [so] out of character, for someone who had so much pride, you know — everything he was against, he was displaying. It was like watching a different person.”
Elvis’ monologues became so frequent that an album of strictly onstage dialogue was released.
People reportedly didn’t want to talk to Elvis about drugs
It’s unclear whether or not the audience believed Elvis, given his ranting. Those in his life certainly thought his drug use was a problem. They didn’t speak to him about it, though. His longtime maid, Nancy Rooks, shared why.
“People have asked me over the years if I had seen how bad the prescription use had become,” she wrote in her book Inside Graceland: Elvis’ Maid Remembers. “As I look back on it, the only thing I can remember is watching him in pain a lot of the time, and seeing him feeling the tremendous stresses of keeping up with a schedule that would have been impossible for most people to tolerate, and I think it just became normal to see him trying to do things to accommodate that demand.”
Even though they recognized the problem, they didn’t want Elvis to be uncomfortable.
“It’s not that so many of us were not concerned for him, it’s just that it became so routine,” she wrote. “Looking back on it, I remember Aunt Delta telling me, just several months before, as we stood out by the racquetball court one morning, that she was afraid that if ‘If he doesn’t stop taking so many drugs, I’m afraid he’s going to die.’ But, even so, she continued to take him whatever medications he would ask for. We just all wanted to try and make his life as comfortable for him as we could.”
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
