Elvis Presley's Favorite On-Stage Drink Was A Modest Choice

The story of Elvis Presley's life and early demise is one famously full of excess. Even people unfamiliar with his music have likely heard tales of drug-fueled nights and . When it came to alcohol, though, the King was unlikely to indulge — possibly due to witnessing his beloved mother Gladys' premature death in 1958 brought on by liver damage from alcoholism.

Presley's father, Vernon, noted his son's distaste for alcohol in a 1978 interview with Good Housekeeping, stating that he'd only ever seen Elvis accidentally drink too much peach brandy once. Perhaps this preference for fruitier flavors, coupled with a need for hydration in the Las Vegas heat, where he had an intense performance schedule, explains why Presley liked to chug Gatorade on stage. The King of Rock and Roll clearly took Gatorade's promotional messaging to heart.



Gatorade was invented by researchers at the University of Florida in 1965 to keep its college football players from getting too dehydrated while sweating heavily on the field. The drink was formulated to restore the balance of blood sugar and electrolytes in the body. As the University of Florida's team is called the Gators, the revolutionary new sports beverage earned the nickname "Gatorade," and it stuck.

The drink was quickly attributed as a factor in UF's team winning football games. Gatorade was a staple at Elvis Presley concerts A newspaper account from 1977 breathlessly notes the setup for an Elvis live show: a phalanx of police officers and security guard the stage, fans clutch homemade trinkets to hopefully pass to the King, and a roadie lugs a jar of Gatorade on-stage for Elvis to drink throughout the concert. Presley often made mention of the classic beverage during his shows, joking that it was just the thing to "aid [his] gator.

" He also remarked that Gatorade was supposed to "work 12 times faster than water," so he was drinking it along with water to keep his throat from getting too dry. In fact, the King's on-stage unofficial Gatorade ads helped further raise the profile of the beverage. A Gatorade TV commercial from 1970 marketed the drink as "the professional thirst quencher," and highlighted the high-level sports leagues then endorsing the drink.

Granted, Presley didn't seem to enjoy the taste of Gatorade, but his options at the time were limited. The only flavors available during Elvis's lifetime were orange and lemon lime – a third flavor, fruit punch, didn't arrive on store shelves until 1983. Elvis would have a wealth of choices today, including the polarizing , and Cool Blue, as of 2020.

Presley wasn't the only major figure to sing Gatorade's praises. The company received another celebrity endorsement in 1991 when Michael Jordan started appearing in adverts. It's also well known that classic orange Gatorade is one of .

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