Elvis’ Bodyguards Said the Singer Had a Near Magic Power Over People

For two decades, Elvis Presley commanded zealous audiences. He brought people to tears with his performances and kicked up a frenzy that some found alarming. His bodyguards said he had this same effect off the stage as well. Elvis was so charismatic that he almost seemed to have magical control over people. 

Elvis’ bodyguard said the singer could entrance them

Many members of Elvis’ entourage worked for him for years, putting in long hours to do whatever he asked of them.

“I often felt that I’m in the aura of some very special human being. He genuinely believes that he is a prophet and we were his disciples,” bodyguard Red West said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “He demands fanatical loyalty, expects it. There have been times that I have felt that Elvis bordered on being a bit of a nut, but look at the loyalty we gave the man. We broke our backs for him. We’ve risked our lives for him.”

West said he would have put his life on the line for Elvis. It felt as though the singer had some kind of power over him.

“He certainly had a power over us. He certainly had a control over me, I admit it,” West said, adding, “We didn’t do it for the money, because we never got much. We didn’t do it for the women, because we had all had that and we are all married. We didn’t do it for the excitement, because we were all a bit old for that kind of thing.”

Elvis’ bodyguard said the singer was the most charismatic person he had ever met

Much of Elvis’ so-called power over the people in his life was a result of his charisma. Bodyguard Dave Hebler said he had never come across a more charming person.

“This guy didn’t have to give me the time of day. But somehow he had that charm, or maybe it was a knack, of making me feel important at a time when it was important for me personally to be made to feel important,” Hebler said. “Perhaps, now, I see it clearer, but there is no getting away from it. I had never met — before or since — never read of, nor heard of, any man who could so totally disarm you with charm, generosity and what appeared to be spontaneous love, as could Elvis Presley. Today they use the word charisma. Well, Presley had it to spare in truckloads.”

Hebler said Elvis wielded his charm as though he were a politician or evangelist.

His bodyguards felt he was uniquely blessed

Part of Elvis’ appeal was his belief that he was uniquely special. Elvis saw himself as someone blessed by God, and West couldn’t help but agree.

“He believes there was a master plan by God in singling him out for his fantastic success,” West said. “Now, while it does sound a little wacky, I have often given it a lot of thought and have often felt that maybe there was something to it. I mean, how does it happen that a skinny little kid from a dirt-poor family in Tupelo, Mississippi, suddenly becomes the best-known name in the world? How is it that he commands all these fortunes and has all these millions of people who love him?”

He explained that while he wasn’t religious, it appeared to him that Elvis was destined for success.