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| Author | Steve Dunleavy |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
Publication date | May 1977 (UK) 1 August 1977 (USA) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 332 pp |
| ISBN | 0-3452-7215-3 |
Elvis: What Happened? is a 1977 sensationalist book about the American singer Elvis Presley. The book, which is based on the personal accounts of three of Elvis' former bodyguards, went into detail on Presley's prescription drug addiction. His death, only two weeks after the book's US publication in July 1977 (its publication in UK was May 77), made it highly topical and helped boost its sales to over three million.
The bodyguards – Red West, his cousin Sonny West, and David Hebler – had been fired purportedly for cost-saving reasons. After first vainly approaching Rick Husky and Frank Lieberman;[1] they were finally helped by a Rupert Murdoch reporter Steve Dunleavy to produce the book which they claimed to be a friendly warning, rather than a money-making exercise. Sonny West admitted in private that they were writing this book to make money.[2]