Sunday 14 August 2022 10:16 PM Biographer claims Elvis was destined to die young due to his family's history ... trends now

Elvis Presley's early death was inevitable and brought on by genetic defects caused by incest in his family tree, an author argued in a biography.

In Elvis: Destined to Die Young, Sally Hoedel argued Elvis' early death by heart attack at 42 was a fore-dawn conclusion brought on by defective genes passed down from his maternal grandparents, who married despite being first cousins.

Hoedel, a life long fan of Elvis, told the Sun she was inspired to research the book after noticing similarities between the rocker's death and the death of his mother Gladys Presley, who also died in her forties.

Much like Elvis, Gladys suffered a sudden period of intense health decline and substance abuse, leading to her death at 46 of heart failure. 

Gladys' three brothers each also died at similar ages to her of heart or lung related ailments.

'So it stops being a coincidence by the time it gets to Elvis,' Hoedel said, 'because there's so much going on in that family tree.'

Elvis was found dead in a bathroom in his Memphis, Tennessee bathroom on August 16, 1977. His death was official ruled as being caused by cardiac arrest, but the role drug-use played in bringing that about has long been subject to debate.

Presley was known to have become addicted to numerous prescription drugs throughout the 1970s trying cope with the demands of a decade of famously grueling touring.

But in her book, Hoedel argued Elvis' decline was not caused by over-indulgence or reckless drug use, but that he was over-prescribed medication to mitigate ailments he had already developed and were being exasperated by his tour demands.   

'Elvis had various health issues but he hid them so well that the over-medication is what we remember now,' said Hoedel, 'He often took too much, and there are issues there, but you have to ask why he was taking those pills in the first place.'