In the last few years of his life Elvis Presley became overweight and addicted to prescription drugs. The King was not in a good place having lost touch with his father Vernon and divorced his wife Priscilla Presley in 1973. It was a very lonely time for the star, who refused to slow down his touring commitments.
In 1974 he performed 158 concerts followed by 108 in 1975 and 129 shows in 1976.
Speaking on Sky documentary Elvis: The Searcher, The Jordanaires Gospel Singer Gordon Stoker said: “He was never the same after [divorcing Priscilla].
“He just changed, he was very moody. He wasn’t well doing two shows a night.
“He had to take uppers to get him going and downers to put him to sleep.”
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English said: “You can slightly see [his decline] in the following year [1971] but really after he got divorced.
“So after Madison Square Garden, you start to see slight physical decline.
“He still looked good at Madison Square Garden.”
But it was after Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite in January 1973 – the month The King filed for divorce – that the decline towards his death really hit.
The Elvis expert added: “From that point onwards you can see a steady decline in both his musical aspirations and interests and his physical state.
“Just gradually going downhill, in quite a short time actually. Only four years.”
Elvis died of a heart attack on the toilet upstairs at his home of Graceland on August 16, 1977.
The King was just 42-years-old but his legacy lives on through his music to this day.