Elvis Presley: A Turbulent Life

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2022

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A hotly anticipated biopic about the king of Rock'n'Roll will be released in June directed by Baz Luhmann. We've delved back into our archives to bring you this episode with author Sally Hoedel who interviewed people who personally knew Elvis—to support her claim that Elvis Presley was never going to live a long life. She tells Dan that prescription medication was only one aspect of his compromised health, not the ultimate cause of his death. She examines Elvis Presley—a son, husband, father, and devoted friend—while ploughing through the negative hype and legendary myths surrounding the man.

Sally's book is called 'Elvis: Destined to Die Young.'

This episode was first released on 21st January 2021.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Audible, where you can now stream the new series of that brilliant Stephen Fry's
0:06.7	Secrets of podcast. It peaks behind the curtain of the 1920s this time. The life and times of the flappers,
0:14.1	police women, radio, the movies, jazz, the British sense of humour,
0:20.3	censorship and the secrets and lies, the financial crash. This is another installment of Stephen Fry that listeners love.
0:27.7	There are some brilliant stories in here, all told in a very Stephen Fry type away. You're going to love it. Listen now.
0:33.5	Subscription required. See audible.co.uk for terms.
0:38.1	Hi, everybody. Welcome to Dan Snow's History Hit. Here's a favourite from our archive.
0:42.9	Hi, everybody. Welcome to Dan Snow's History Hit.
0:47.0	We've had a lot of heavy subjects this week, but now we've got, I don't know, there's a lighter subject.
0:51.8	I'm not sure it's Elvis's health. We're talking about Elvis Presley. We're talking about the King of Rock and Roll.
0:56.4	What's he destined to die young? Got Sally Huddle on the podcast. She has spent years researching Elvis's health struggles.
1:04.4	And it turns out he had a whole bunch of issues that he inherited from his parents.
1:09.8	She's revealed compelling evidence of a genetic legacy of chronic medical conditions, not even Elvis.
1:15.8	Not even the King could overcome. This was such a fascinating podcast to record.
1:19.8	I've obviously like everybody else in the world long been a fan of Elvis. Long found him a kind of fascinating character.
1:25.7	But the knowledge of what was going on behind the scenes, the stress that he put himself under,
1:31.4	and the battle that he had with his weakening body is absolutely astonishing.
1:36.3	Elvis Presley's first hit song, Heartbreak Hotel, was released on the 27th of January.
1:42.0	1956, it topped the charts in the US. In April and became his first hit in the UK. In May.
1:49.4	Just over 20 years later, he died at age 42, which when I was young seemed to me a reasonable age to die.
1:54.5	I mean, I thought 42 was impossibly ancient. Now 42 everybody, prime of life, early peak.
2:00.8	He was on the upward slope in my honest opinion. He's the same age as me. Elvis died when he was my age.
	...

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