Last Words

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"I'm going to the bathroom to read."

- Elvis Presley (1935 – 1977)

Spoken to his fiancee, Ginger Alden, in bed at his Memphis mansion, Graceland when he was having problems sleeping. She replied "OK, but don't fall asleep.” Two hours later she found him dead on the bathroom floor. Although he was taking multiple medications and drugs (in the first 8 months of 1977 his doc had prescribed him more than 10,000 doses of sedatives, amphetamines and narcotics), the autopsy attributed death to a sudden heart attack

Elvis with Ginger Alden

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“I’m losing.”

- Frank Sinatra (1915 - 1998)

Sinatra died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles aged 82, after a heart attack. He had been in ill health during the last few years of his life and had been frequently hospitalized for heart and breathing problems, high blood pressure, pneumonia and bladder cancer. He was further diagnosed as having dementia. Sinatra’s wife Barbara was at his side when he died and had been encouraging him to fight his medical conditions but shortly before his death he spoke the words above. After his death, the lights on the Las Vegas strip were dimmed, the casinos observed a minute’s silence and the Empire State Building turned its lights blue.

Sinatra with wife Barbara Marx (widow of Marx brother Zeppo)

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“Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here.” 

- Nostradamus (1503 – 1566)

Nostradamus was a French physician and reputed seer. Some swear by him, others say that alleged accuracy of his prophecies is the result of misinterpretation and forced explanations. He is alleged to have spoken the above words to his secretary on the evening before his death. Another version holds that he told his secretary "You will not find me alive at sunrise."

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“Last tag.” 

- Richard B. Mellon (1858-1933)

Banker Richard B. Mellon and his brother Andrew played a game of tag that lasted seven decades. On his deathbed, Richard’s last words to his brother were as quoted above. His brother remained “it” until he died four years later."

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“Yeah, country music.”

- Buddy Rich (1917-1987)

Drummer Buddy Rich died of heart failure following surgery for a malignant brain tumor. As he was being prepped for surgery, a nurse asked him, “Is there anything you can’t take?” Rich replied "Yeah, country music."