Elvis Was Afraid to Sleep Alone After a Death Threat He Had Joked About
Elvis Presley began to receive death threats as his fame increased. He received a particularly frightening threat before one show; it scared him and his entourage badly enough that he said goodbye to his family before taking the stage. Afterward, though, he teased his bodyguards about taking it seriously. In private, he seemed much more shaken by it.
Elvis claimed he was afraid to sleep alone after a death threat
Ahead of a show in Las Vegas, several members of Elvis’ entourage received phone calls from a person who claimed to have information about a plot to kill Elvis. They informed the FBI, and Elvis called members of his entourage who were not in Vegas to have them closer to him.
“He just stumbled into my arms and hugged me,” his friend Jerry Schilling said, per the book Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick.
Still, he took the stage on the day of the show. Luckily, the concert went off without any problems. Afterward, Elvis talked about the death threat with “bravado” and teased his bodyguards for taking it seriously.
“You guys were really scared, weren’t you?” he said to them laughingly.
In private, though, Elvis appeared to be a bit more rattled by the incident. According to one of his backup singers, Kathy Westmoreland, Elvis said he was afraid to be alone at night. She began spending the night with him because he claimed he was having nightmares about the death threat.
Elvis seemed disappointed when he walked offstage after receiving a death threat
Elvis’ behavior after the death threat surprised everyone in his life. He was fearful enough before the concert that he said tearful goodbyes to his friends and family. Afterward, though, Elvis seemed disappointed that nothing had happened.
“It was crazy,” backup singer Joe Moscheo said. “It was like he was disappointed that he didn’t get shot!”
The experience clearly shook him
Still, Elvis found the experience frightening enough that he instructed his bodyguards to do everything in their power to kill any potential assassin.
“If some sonofab**** tries to kill me, I want you guys to get him, I want you to rip his goddamn eyes out,” he told his bodyguards. “I don’t want him sitting around afterward like Charlie Manson with a grin on his face, saying, ‘I killed Elvis Presley.’”
Though he would later tease his bodyguards for taking the threat seriously, he also reminded them that they should do everything in their power to protect him.
“He felt that the assassins gloated over their ‘accomplishments,’ and told his bodyguards that if any attempt were made on his life, they should get the killer — even before the police,” Priscilla Presley wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “He didn’t want anyone bragging to the media that they’d killed Elvis Presley.”
His bodyguards took these instructions to heart. They pounced on anyone who even looked at Elvis the wrong way, resulting in a pile of assault-and-battery charges.
