Five Months After Elvis Died, His Father Finally Told the Story — And Some of His Words Were Almost Impossible to Read

In January 1978, only about five months after Elvis Presley’s death, Vernon Presley sat down to tell the story of his only surviving son. What emerged was not simply another article about the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. It was the deeply personal account of a grieving father trying to understand a life that had changed the world — and a death he still could barely accept.

Published in Good Housekeeping, the piece was presented as an interview, but it reads more like Vernon speaking directly from his heart. There is no polished distance between father and son. Instead, there is grief, pride, faith, regret, family memories, and several revelations about Elvis that are rarely discussed today.

Vernon began with the hardest truth: telling Elvis’s story was almost unbearable because his son was suddenly gone.

He admitted that it would take years before he could truly accept Elvis’s death. Yet, he also said that the love and sympathy from thousands of Elvis fans had brought him comfort. Those fans would never see Elvis perform again, Vernon explained, but they would always carry the memories of the happiness Elvis had given them.

Then Vernon went all the way back to January 8, 1935.

He remembered how young and desperately poor he and Gladys were when they discovered they were going to become parents. Vernon was only 18. Elvis’s birth was extremely difficult, and the family was stunned when Gladys first delivered a baby boy who had already died.

That child was Jesse Garon Presley, Elvis’s twin brother, who was stillborn. Vernon later said he did not believe the boys were identical twins. Vernon recalled the shock of learning that another baby was still coming.

Then Elvis was born.

The family named him Elvis Aron Presley, while his deceased twin was named Jesse Garon. Vernon later reflected on the question that had followed Elvis throughout his life: Would everything have been different if Jesse had survived?

Vernon believed it would not.

He felt that Elvis’s destiny had somehow been marked out from the beginning.

One of the most emotional parts of the article concerns Vernon’s belief that God had given Elvis a special purpose. After years of wondering why he and Gladys never had another child, Vernon said that when Elvis was around ten years old, he came to believe that Elvis was meant to be their only child.

To Vernon, Elvis was enough.

The three of them formed what he described as their own private world.

And that childhood portrait is striking because Vernon did not describe a father who forced his son toward a particular career. He said he never demanded that Elvis become a lawyer, football player, businessman, or anything else. He simply wanted his son to do what made him happy.

Even when Vernon invited young Elvis hunting and Elvis replied that he did not want to kill birds, Vernon said he did not pressure him to change his feelings.

Then came one of the family’s most frightening moments.

When Elvis was about six, he became seriously ill with tonsillitis and a dangerously high fever. Vernon remembered doctors fearing for the boy’s life. Vernon and Gladys prayed desperately, and when Elvis recovered, Vernon interpreted the experience as another sign that his son’s life had a special purpose.

But Vernon insisted that he had never imagined Elvis would become famous.

He believed Elvis could have made his contribution to the world in any profession.

Then came Memphis.

Then music.

Then Sun Records.

After high school, Elvis told his father that he wanted to become an entertainer and hoped to sing gospel music. Vernon remembered telling him that whatever he chose, his parents would support him.

In 1954, Elvis recorded “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin” at Sun Records as a gift for his mother. He auditioned for the Songfellows gospel quartet and was rejected. Later, when the group wanted him, Vernon famously remembered essentially telling his son not to look backward.

Elvis was already building something of his own.

Then came Colonel Tom Parker.

Vernon recalled that he and Gladys were initially cautious about Parker because they did not know enough about him. Since Elvis was still underage, his parents had to be involved in his contracts. Eventually, Elvis changed managers and his career exploded.

“Baby, Let’s Play House” became a major country hit. RCA purchased Elvis’s Sun contract. Television appearances followed. Hollywood followed.

And suddenly the poor boy from Tupelo was one of the most famous people in America.

But Vernon’s memories also reveal something darker.

He remembered seeing Elvis attacked by overwhelming crowds early in his career. In Jacksonville, Florida, Vernon described fans swarming Elvis so violently that they tore his shirt away, leaving scratches and blood beneath his arms.

Vernon said he genuinely feared his son might be killed.

Years later, another frightening incident occurred in Las Vegas when the family received a reported threat that someone intended to shoot Elvis on stage. Vernon recalled that even though Elvis was frightened, he insisted on performing.

He went onstage anyway.

That determination became one of the recurring themes in Vernon’s memories of his son.

He also addressed rumors about Elvis’s private life, relationships, medications, and health. Vernon strongly rejected the idea that Elvis was using illegal hard drugs, saying Elvis had seen what drugs had done to people around him and did not want that for himself or his daughter Lisa Marie.

At the same time, Vernon acknowledged that Elvis had serious health problems and took prescription medications. He remembered concerns about high blood pressure, liver damage, and other medical issues.

Vernon also spoke about the women in Elvis’s life.

He remembered Anita Wood and other relationships, but his comments about Priscilla Presley were particularly revealing. He described Priscilla as disciplined, strong-minded, tender, and loving. Vernon believed Elvis’s marriage ultimately failed because Elvis realized after the wedding that he did not truly want to be married, while constant travel and separation created additional strain.

Yet Vernon emphasized something he never doubted:

Elvis adored Lisa Marie.

Whenever Lisa was not in school and Elvis was home, Vernon remembered the two spending hours together at Graceland.

Then came Linda Thompson, Sheila Ryan, and finally Ginger Alden.

Vernon admitted he did not know Ginger well, but he remembered Elvis telling him something extraordinary: that he had fallen in love with Ginger and wanted more children. Vernon even saw the engagement ring.

But only days before Elvis died, Vernon asked his son when the wedding would take place.

Elvis reportedly answered:

“Only God knows.”

Those words became haunting in retrospect.

Then Vernon reached the most painful section of the entire article: August 16, 1977.

He remembered working in the office when Joe Esposito received the call from upstairs.

Elvis wasn’t breathing.

Because Vernon was already in poor health, someone had to help him get to the house. When he saw his son, Vernon said he immediately knew Elvis was gone.

The grief that followed was almost impossible for him to process.

He did not even fully recognize everyone who attended the funeral. He later realized that Caroline Kennedy had been present but initially did not know who she was. He was simply too devastated to think clearly.

And perhaps the most heartbreaking part comes when Vernon describes the questions that remained unanswered.

How long had Elvis been lying there?

Why hadn’t someone checked on him sooner?

What had happened during those final hours?

These were questions Vernon said he desperately wanted answered.

Yet even after losing his son, Vernon continued thinking about Elvis’s unfinished business. He considered moving into Graceland and bringing Jesse’s remains from Mississippi so the twins could potentially rest together.

And then he returned to the belief that had guided him throughout his life.

Elvis had been a gift from God.

For Vernon, that belief did not make the loss less painful. But it gave him a way to understand a tragedy that otherwise made no sense.

His final message was not really about fame, money, Hollywood, women, or controversy.

It was about a father who had loved his son before the world ever knew his name.

Before the records.

Before the screaming crowds.

Before Graceland became famous.

Before Elvis Presley became the King.

To Vernon, Elvis was first and always his boy — the child who had survived a heartbreaking birth, grown up in poverty, dreamed of becoming an entertainer, changed popular culture, and ultimately left his father with memories that fame could never replace.

And perhaps that is why this 1978 account remains so powerful.

Because behind the legend of Elvis Presley was something much simpler:

A father lost his son.

And five months later, he was still trying to understand how the world could possibly continue without him.

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