Introduction:
In May 1956, a young heartthrob named Elvis Presley ascended to the top of the Hot 100 for the first time with “Heartbreak Hotel”. This was the beginning of a cultural revolution. The young man from Tupelo, Mississippi, defied genre conventions and captivated audiences with his smooth baritone and sensual onstage persona.
By the late 1970s, however, the “King of Rock and Roll” had deteriorated considerably. Years of substance use and unhealthy habits had rendered him barely recognizable. Onstage, he frequently struggled to make it through a full show.
On this day (June 26) in 1977, an enthusiastic crowd of 18,000 packed into Indianapolis’ Market Square Arena to see the King in concert.
Little did the audience know, they were witnessing his final performance. Elvis Presley died less than two months later on August 16, 1977, at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 42 years old.
Elvis Presley’s Final Performance Drew Mixed Critical Reviews
It wasn’t supposed to be Elvis Presley’s last show.
On June 26, 1977, the “Hound Dog” crooner was wrapping up a nine-day tour at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana. After leaving the stage that night, he planned to take a break from touring until August.
According to setlist.fm, the musical titan included covers of Ray Charles’ “I’ve Got a Woman” and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.
He also performed his own material, such as “Jailhouse Rock” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”.
According to Rita Rose’s review for the Indianapolis Star, ” As the lights in the Arena was turned down after intermission, you could feel a silent plea rippling through the audience: Please, Elvis, don’t be fat.”
“And then he appeared,” she wrote, “in a gold and white jumpsuit and white boots, bounding onstage with energy that was a relief to everyone.”
While Presley had not fully shed the “excess baggage” around his middle, Rose continued, “it didn’t stop him from giving a performance in true Presley style.”
Indianapolis News critic Zach Dunkin was less forgiving. Dunkin wrote, “It’s time ardent Presley fans quit protecting their idol and start demanding more. They know ‘the King’ can do better.”
He Was Dead Two Months Later
Sadly, Elvis Presley would never get the chance to “do better.”
On the afternoon of August 16, 1977, the singer’s fiancée, Ginger Alden, found him unresponsive on the bathroom floor of his Graceland mansion.
Emergency medical professionals were unable to revive him. And at 3:30 p.m., the King was pronounced dead from heart failure at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.
For months afterwards, Zach Dunkin’s mailbox overflowed with angry letters from Elvis Presley fans who were furious over his less-than-favorable review of the King’s curtain call.