Elvis Presley's sacked bodyguards call him 'over-sexed, gun-loving, drug addict' in their explosive tell-all book
Elvis Presley's private life has been an enigma to all of us even decades after his death. Seemingly revealing all the deep, dark secrets of his life are three of his former bodyguards who penned 'Elvis: What Happened?' Published in August 1977, just days before the King of Rock and Roll died, the book narrates the scandalous stories that the bodyguards shared with Australian journalist Steve Dunleavy detailing what is it like work for Presley.
The pages of the book still cause the same shock and sensation even years after the music icon's death. However, the lurid description given in the book gave rise to new stories about Elvis altogether and portrayed him in a whole new light. Journalist Dunleavy's death this week has given rise to a renewed interest in the King of Rock of Roll's life and this book contains some really scandalous allegations.
The book spoke about Presley's serious drug addiction for the first time, and it sent shock waves across America and changed the legend's public persona forever. The book, which promised "The dark other side of the brightest star in the world," portrayed Presley as an "over-sexed, gun-loving, drug addict," according to Daily Mail. He was described in impactfully terrible words such as "Brooding. Violent. Obsessed with death. Strung out. Sexually driven."
The three men who claimed to have lived through the horrors of working with Presley, claim that he once charmed a "beautiful young fan" to join him during one of his drug binges which ended up almost killing her. Another claim goes on to say that he injured a woman's breast by hurling a pool cue at her, while yet another accusation suggests that he once spoke about putting a "hit" out on a man who he believed stole his wife Priscilla Presley from him, and once shot at a television set.
However, the most controversial of all the claims against Presley is that he was chronically addicted to various forms of drugs including barbiturates and benzodiazepines and that he took cocaine and LSD. 'Elvis: What Happened?' which made its debut days before the singer died of cardiac arrhythmia brought on by an irregular heartbeat caused by undetermined causes, had made many of Presley's fans furious. The unwittingly perfect timing of the book's release worked out in its favor and it became somewhat of a publishing sensation, with even the critics getting hooked to the pages almost right away.
The bodyguards' accounts were initially criticized as being motivated by greed or revenge at the time but most of their main claims were later proved to be accurate.