Elvis’ Bodyguard Went ‘Cold’ When He Saw the Singer’s Fans Going ‘Berserk’ and Charging the Stage

Elvis Presley understood how to rile up his fans, something his bodyguards knew all too well. They watched people scream, cry, and gyrate through the singer’s shows for years. While they watched the audience with mild perturbation most of the time, they found some behavior downright frightening. One bodyguard recalled a frightening show during which audience members stormed toward the stage.

Elvis’ bodyguard said the singer’s fans sometimes frightened him

At Elvis’ concerts, fans had the chance to walk away with a souvenir: a scarf the singer used to mop his brow. He tossed out many of these each show, and people fought over them. At one concert, bodyguard Dave Hebler said so many people rushed for a scarf that it terrified him.

“Well, Elvis has reached the part of his act where he throws out about fifty scarves into the audience,” Hebler said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “I look out into the audience and I just go cold. The crowd has gone berserk and is charging the stage. The cops in Atlanta were great, but they couldn’t stop this charge.”

Hebler said his biggest concern was that someone would hurt themselves as they lunged for the stage.

“But worst of all was where I was on the edge of the stage trying to stop people leaping over the railing and jumping the two feet onto the stage because if they missed they would have gone straight down onto the concrete,” he explained. “Of course that’s what happened.”

Hebler said three fans fell as they attempted to leap on the stage.

Fans behaved badly in Elvis’ earliest performances

Bodyguards who had been with Elvis since the beginning grew used to this type of behavior. People had been doing it for two decades. In 1957, when he played his first concert in Chicago, fans fought for a chance to go home with his clothing.

“I drove 70 miles to see him — and I’m going to get a piece of his clothing before I leave,” one fan wailed as she received treatment at a first aid station (via The Chicago Tribune).

Another fan swung her purse at a police officer but missed, hitting an usher in the head so hard that he was rushed to the hospital amid concerns she fractured his skull. While Elvis’ entourage watched this unfold in a state of shock, Elvis reveled in it.

“I love ‘em,” he said of his fans. “Without them, I’d be lost.”

Concertgoers once stormed the stage during a performance

Hebler feared a fan would hurt themselves — or Elvis — if they tried to jump onstage. During one show, bodyguards received even more of a fright when four men made it onto the stage. As they subdued three of the men, Elvis kicked the final one off. He collapsed but ultimately finished the show.

“I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen,” he told his audience per the book Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick. “I’m sorry I didn’t break his goddamn neck is what I’m sorry about.” 

While everyone’s initial fear was that the men were trying to harm Elvis, they discovered they were just drunk and overenthusiastic fans.