Elvis’ Dad Blamed the Musician for His Poor Health and His Mother’s Death: ‘It About Killed Him’

In 1975, both Elvis Presley and his dad, Vernon, were in the hospital. Elvis’ doctor wanted to make sure the medication the musician was taking hadn’t caused too much damage to his organs, and Vernon was recovering from a heart attack. The two men had neighboring rooms, but this brought little comfort to them. According to Elvis’ cousin, the musician and his father were not getting along during this period. Vernon began to blame Elvis for significant problems. 

Elvis’ dad lashed out at him while they were both in the hospital

On Jan. 29, 1975, Elvis complained of shortness of breath. His doctor admitted him to the hospital to try to get his use of medications under control and to make sure he hadn’t damaged his liver or intestines. 

On Feb. 5, Vernon had a heart attack and was admitted to the same hospital. Elvis ensured his father had the room next to his own. They didn’t bring each other much comfort, though. Vernon began to blame his heart attack on his son. He also said that Elvis’ mother’s death had been Elvis’ fault. 

“He said, ‘I can thank you for this,'” Elvis’ cousin Billy Smith recalled, per the book Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick. “[And then he] blamed him for Aunt Gladys, too. He said, ‘You worried your mama right to the grave.'”

Gladys died in 1958. Some believe that the stress she felt over Elvis’ military service hastened the decline of her health. To hear his father bring this up devastated Elvis.

“Elvis broke down and cried,” Smith said. “It about killed him.”

Elvis was very close to his mother

Gladys and Elvis were extremely close in her lifetime. According to Priscilla Presley, Elvis saw his mother as the love of his life. The pair were so close that Elvis believed they shared a psychic link.

“He told me of the time his car caught on fire while on the road and he barely escaped with his life,” Priscilla wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “Although she was miles away, Gladys sat straight up in her bed and screamed his name — the intuitive link between them was that strong. Her concern for his welfare while he was away from home was so great that she would spend sleepless nights until his call came, telling her he was safe.”

The people close to Elvis believed Gladys’ death forever changed him.

Elvis and his dad maintained a solid relationship

Though Vernon’s words hurt Elvis, they maintained a good relationship. Vernon was left devastated by his son’s death, but he was grateful for the time they had together. Several days before Elvis died, he had an hours-long conversation with his father.

“A few days before he died, Elvis and I talked at Graceland for five or six hours about all sorts of things until I finally said, ‘Son, I have to go home now and get something to eat,'” Vernon wrote, per Good Housekeeping. “‘I know, Daddy,’ Elvis told me. ‘But I want you to know that I’ve really enjoyed this.’ So had I.”