Priscilla Presley On ‘Devastating’ Moment She Knew Elvis Was Dead, ‘I Lost Everything’

As fans around the world commemorated the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death on August 16, his ex-wife Priscilla Presley opened up about how the late star is still very much present in her and her daughter’s life while recalling how she “lost everything” that sad day.

Priscilla, who was married to the star from 1967 until 1973, revealed that although the musical icon has been gone for 40 years he’s still a big part of her life and that of their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who’s now 49-years-old.

Calling his death in 1997 “devastating,” Presley told Entertainment Tonight this week that even after all this time his death is still “unbelievable” to her “because he’s so much a part of our lives.”

“When we get together, we talk about it, and the impact it made,” she continued of how Elvis’s legacy lives on past his tragic and untimely death four decades ago. “For myself, and for my cohorts, who of course knew Elvis so well, we never thought he’d pass. We just never, ever had that in our minds.”

Priscilla then went on to recall in detail how she learned of her former husband’s death at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, and revealed how she attempted to process the shocking news.

“The first thing I thought about was my daughter,” she said after being told that Elvis’s close friend and road manager Joe Esposito was attempting to get in contact with her while she was out.

As she made her way home to see what was wrong, she told the outlet that she remembers feeling a certain urgency as she sped back before getting the phone call that confirmed her ex-husband’s passing as soon as she got home.

“[Joe] told me the news, and it was so devastating that I just went to my room and tried to contemplate how this happened, and what happened, and just stayed there until they sent a plane for me,” Priscilla recalled of that fateful August 16 in 1977.

“Going into that house and hearing all the people – especially his father, who I will, to this day, still remember him crying in such grief, howling – that it still resonates the loss and the impact,” she said of entering his Graceland estate as his family mourned the sudden loss of the beloved singer.

“[I lost] everything,” Presley continued, telling the site that their daughter actually found out that Elvis was dead at just 42-years-old before she did. “He was such an impact in my life, in every way. He was my mentor, he was my confidant… He was everything.”

And despite the two divorcing four years prior to his shocking death, Elvis’s former wife took a trip to Graceland this week to pay tribute to her former love with her family, 40-years after he was found unresponsive there.

Elvis fans across the globe have also flocked to social media this week to pay tribute to the rocker, often referred to as the King of Rock and Roll, to celebrate his life four decades after his death.

As reported by Daily Star, a flurry of fans and celebrities alike remembered the late star alongside Priscilla upon the milestone of his death this week and shared poignant messages and memories of the singer and his legendary career.

[Featured Image by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Politicon]