On This Day: Elvis Presley Died (1977)

Forty-two years old, in Graceland, the loneliness more public than the music.

Elvis Presley's death at 42 shocked a country that had grown up with him. He had sold over a billion records, starred in 33 films, and transformed American popular culture. He had also been in physical decline for years, isolated at Graceland and dependent on prescription drugs. His death generated