Elvis Presley may have performed his final concert on June 26, 1977, but he continued singing in private in front of his friends and family.
In the early hours of August 16, 1977, the day he died 48 years ago today, The King called up his cousin Billy Smith and his wife Jo.
It was around 3:30am, and Elvis wanted the couple to come and join him and his girlfriend, Ginger Alden, for a game of racquetball in his court behind Graceland.
The four headed over for a few games and according to Billy – as shared on the Memphis Mafia Kid YouTube channel – Elvis hurt his shin before they vacated the court so that Ginger and Jo could have a game.
Once he’d assessed on the sofa that he wasn’t bleeding, the King went over to the piano, which you can still see on the Graceland tour to this day.
Elvis began to play what ended up being a final private concert for his cousin, and it was the last time he sang.
According to Billy, Elvis sang Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain and Unchained Melody. Both are covers and Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain features on The King’s 1976 album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee. While Unchained Melody is the opening track on his final record, 1977’s Moody Blue. After singing his final songs and they’d had enough of racquetball, the two couples headed back to the Graceland mansion around 6:15am. But little did Billy and Jo know that this would be their last goodbyes to Elvis, who had been really excited for his next tour, set to start on August 17 in Portland, Maine’s Cumberland County Civic Center.
Billy and Jo said how Elvis was so looking forward to the tour and was feeling positive about the future. Jo remembers The King saying just before they left: “Good night and I love you. We’ve got big things to do, we’re going to do big things.” The couple then headed home around 7am not knowing that they’d seen their dear friend for the final time. Around 1:30pm, Ginger woke up and realised that Elvis wasn’t in bed. He’d gone to the bathroom a few hours earlier to read but tragically had died of a heart attack on the toilet. He was just 42.