Few looks in music history are as recognizable as Elvis Presley’s jet-black pompadour. From his explosive rise in the 1950s through the black leather ’68 Comeback Special and his Las Vegas years, the hairstyle became part of the King’s image. But after Elvis died at Graceland on August 16, 1977, investigators noticed something surprising beneath that famous dark color.
Dan Warlick, a former chief medical investigator in Tennessee who helped examine Elvis after his death, later recalled looking closely at his scalp. According to Warlick, roughly the first quarter-inch of Elvis’s newly grown hair was white. If Elvis had stopped coloring it, Warlick believed his hair would have appeared dramatically different from the image millions knew.
The Truth Behind Elvis Presley’s Hair
The documentary features Warlick describing the discovery directly. He explained that Elvis had been coloring his hair jet black and said the untreated growth would have been “white as snow.” Forensic pathologist Dr. Richard Shepherd noted that such extensive whitening at only 42 was striking, suggesting genetics and prolonged stress as possible factors.
The black hair itself had never been Elvis’s natural color. Historical accounts describe his natural shade as blond or light brown, with Elvis eventually adopting the darker look as his movie career developed. PBS’s Elvis ’56 says he believed jet-black hair photographed better on film and gave him something of the appearance of actor Tony Curtis.
That decision helped create an image recognized around the world. The hair became so closely connected to Elvis that clippings collected by his personal barber later sold for more than $115,000 at auction. Yet behind the carefully maintained black color, his appearance continued changing in ways fans watching him from a distance could not see.
Elvis Presley transformed popular music with “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock” and performances that helped make rock and roll a worldwide phenomenon. Nearly five decades after his death, even something as familiar as his famous hair can still reveal an unexpected piece of the man behind the image. Watch the documentary to hear the investigator who examined Elvis explain what he discovered for himself.