Editing Elvis Presley (section)

==== Medical crises and last studio sessions ====
[[File:Elvis and Priscilla Presley after divorce hearing.jpg|left|thumb|Elvis and [[Priscilla Presley]] holding hands after their divorce was finalized in 1973]]
Presley's divorce was finalized on October 9, 1973.{{sfn|Guralnick|Jorgensen|1999|p=329}} He and Priscilla would remain close friends until his death, even holding hands while leaving the courtroom where they finalized their divorce. Priscilla recalled that they lived life together "like we were never divorced. Elvis and I still hugged each other, still had love. We would say, 'Mommy said this' and 'Daddy said that.' That helped Lisa to feel stable. There was never any arguing or bitterness."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Finn |first=Natalie |date=January 6, 2024 |title=The Heartbreaking Truth About Elvis and Priscilla Presley's Love Story |url=https://www.eonline.com/news/1335721/the-heartbreaking-truth-about-elvis-and-priscilla-presleys-love-story |access-date=December 28, 2024 |website=E! Online}}</ref> By this time, his health was in serious decline. Twice during the year he overdosed on [[barbiturate]]s, spending three days in a coma in his hotel suite after the first incident. In late 1973, he was hospitalized from the effects of a [[pethidine]] addiction. According to his primary care physician, [[George C. Nichopoulos]], Presley "felt that by getting drugs from a doctor, he wasn't the common everyday junkie getting something off the street".{{sfn|Higginbotham|2002}} Since his comeback, he had staged more live shows with each passing year, and 1973 saw 168 concerts, his busiest schedule ever.{{sfn|Keogh|2004|p=238}} Despite his failing health, he undertook another intensive touring schedule in 1974.{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|pp=481, 487, 499, 504, 519–520}}

Presley's condition declined precipitously that September. Keyboardist [[Tony Brown (record producer)|Tony Brown]] remembered his arrival at a [[University of Maryland]] concert: "He fell out of the limousine, to his knees. People jumped to help, and he pushed them away like, 'Don't help me.' He walked on stage and held onto the mic for the first thirty minutes like it was a post. Everybody's looking at each other like, 'Is the tour gonna happen'?"{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|p=547}} Guitarist John Wilkinson recalled: <blockquote>He was all gut. He was slurring. He was so fucked up.&nbsp;... It was obvious he was drugged. It was obvious there was something terribly wrong with his body. It was so bad the words to the songs were barely intelligible.&nbsp;... I remember crying. He could barely get through the introductions.{{sfn|Hopkins|1986|p=136}}</blockquote>

On July 13, 1976, Vernon Presley—who had become deeply involved in his son's financial affairs—had fired "[[Memphis Mafia]]" bodyguards [[Red West]] (Presley's friend since the 1950s), [[Sonny West (actor)|Sonny West]], and David Hebler, citing the need to "cut back on expenses".{{sfn|Guralnick|1994|pp=50, 148}}{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|pp=601–4}}{{sfn|Stanley|Coffey|1998|p=139}} Presley was in [[Palm Springs, California|Palm Springs]] at the time, and some suggest the singer was too cowardly to face the three himself. Another associate of Presley's, John O'Grady, argued that the bodyguards were dropped because their rough treatment of fans had prompted too many lawsuits.{{sfn|Hopkins|2007|p=354}} Presley's stepbrother David Stanley has claimed that the bodyguards were fired because they were becoming more outspoken about Presley's drug dependency.{{sfn|Stanley|Coffey|1998|p=140}}

RCA began to grow anxious as his interest in the recording studio waned. After a session in December 1973 that produced eighteen songs, enough for almost two albums, Presley made no official studio recordings in 1974.{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|p=560}} Parker delivered RCA another concert record, ''[[Elvis Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis]]''.{{sfn|Guralnick|Jorgensen|1999|p=336}} Recorded on March 20, it included a version of "[[How Great Thou Art]]" that won Presley his third and final [[Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance]].{{sfn|Jorgensen|1998|p=381}}{{sfn|Grammy|2014}} All three of his competitive Grammy wins{{snd}}out of fourteen total nominations{{snd}}were for gospel recordings.{{sfn|Grammy|2014}} Presley returned to the recording studio in March 1975, but Parker's attempts to arrange another session toward the end of the year were unsuccessful.{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|pp=584–585}} In 1976, RCA sent a mobile recording unit to Graceland that made possible two full-scale recording sessions,{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|pp=593–595}} but the recording process had become a struggle for him.{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|p=595}}