The Final Song Elvis Presley Sang Before He Died

In the hours before Elvis Presley’s death, he sang several songs to members of his entourage. The song he ended with was one he enjoyed singing to friends and family members while playing the piano. It was not one he wrote himself, but the lyrics were hauntingly appropriate given his coming death.

Elvis Presley sang a cover song in the hours before his death

In the early hours of Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis called his cousin, Billy Smith, to invite him and his wife, Jo, to play racquetball. Though it was the middle of the night and the Smiths had been sleeping, they agreed to a game. 

After a relatively brief game that ended when Elvis accidentally hit himself with his racquet, the group gathered in the racquetball building’s lounge area. Per the book Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick, he sat at the piano and played several songs. He ended on “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” a song he had long enjoyed playing for friends and family. He had recorded a version of it at Graceland in 1976. 

The song is a stirring ode to a lost love and was tragically fitting as the final song Elvis sang to his loved ones. 

“Some day when we meet up yonder/We’ll stroll, hand in hand again/ In a land that knows no parting/ Blue eyes crying in the rain,” he sang for the last verse.

Elvis recorded the song at Graceland in 1976

A year before this, Elvis recorded a version of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” in Graceland’s Jungle Room. The room emulated a jungle, with an artificial waterfall, green shag carpet, and wood furniture. 

Elvis entertained guests and spent time alone in the room but also used it for some of his final recording sessions. In 1976, musicians and engineers joined him with studio-quality equipment to record 16 tracks. These songs appeared on his last two albums. 

The recordings also became available in 2016, with the album Elvis: Way Down in the Jungle Room. The compilation album includes the songs he recorded in the Jungle Room and a second disc with outtakes. 

What else did Elvis do before he died?

Elvis’ singing session was far from the only thing he did on the last day of his life. By all accounts, he packed the day full of activity. He woke in the late afternoon on Aug. 15 and contemplated going to the theater to see the film MacArthur, but he decided to watch TV instead. 

At 10:30, he and his fiancee, Ginger Alden, went to his dentist appointment. Afterward, he met with several people to discuss the details of his upcoming tour. He and Alden argued about whether or not she would join him on tour, but eventually made up enough to talk about their wedding.

Before playing racquetball with Smith, Elvis called his doctor and requested pain medication, as a tooth was bothering him. After he left the racquetball building, his friends delivered his packets of prescription medication. He took them, then went to the bathroom to read while Alden slept. 

Several hours later, Alden awoke and found Elvis unresponsive on the bathroom floor. He was pronounced dead on Aug. 16, 1977.