Why Elvis Was ‘Always’ Getting Picked on in School

Elvis Presley struggled to make friends in high school. His classmate and future bodyguard shared why he was an outcast

Elvis Presley was one of the biggest names in the world by 1956, something that likely would have shocked his high school classmates. For the vast majority of his high school career, Elvis was the target of teasing and physical aggression. One of his few defenders shared why Elvis was constantly getting picked on.

Elvis was a target for bullies in high school
Elvis attended high school in Memphis, Tennessee, and was always a bit of an outcast. His future bodyguard, Red West, recalled multiple occasions where classmates and even staff members bullied him.

“It seems that the way I remember it, someone was always picking on him,” West said in the book Elvis: What Happened? by Steve Dunleavy. “Don’t know why. He was easygoing enough, quiet, well mannered, was always respectful of his elders, and he never wised off at anyone. In many ways he was a very good kid, a lot nicer than some of the others around.”

Though Elvis was a mild-mannered teenager, he stood out from his classmates because of his hair. While most of his peers favored close-cropped styles, Elvis spent a long time styling his long hair.

“It was that hair, man — it got him into all kinds of trouble,” West said. “If he had a regular haircut like the rest of us, he probably wouldn’t have been bothered. But I guess the other kids thought he was trying to show off or something. That hair has always been his crowning glory. I have never known any other human to take more time over his hair. He would spend hours on it, smoothing, mussing it up and combing it and combing it again.”

Despite the teasing, though, Elvis refused to give in and cut his hair.

Elvis and Red West weren’t particularly close, but West stood up for him
West put himself between Elvis and bullies on more than one occasion. He was a grade below Elvis, but he was on the football team, and people knew he could fight. Still, they were not particularly close while in school. Elvis wasn’t close with anybody.

“It was just a warm ‘hello’ or a ‘hi there’ and we’d go our separate ways,” West said. “We were in different classes so we would see each other a little bit on and off. He would always go straight home after school. He never fooled around in the streets, just straight home.”

Elvis finally found acceptance at school
Elvis finally won his classmates over during a talent show. Nobody knew he could sing, so he shocked everyone with his voice and stage presence.

“Hell, do you know while Elvis was singing the love songs, there was one lady teacher crying?” West said. “And there were other teachers who had tears in their eyes. When he finished his show, the kids went crazy; they applauded and applauded. They just went mad. He was an easy winner.”

West believed this was the moment that Elvis realized he wanted to be a performer. He had changed everyone’s opinion of him with his voice.

“At first Elvis just stood there, surprised as hell,” Wests said. “He seemed to be amazed that for the first time in his life someone, other than his family, really liked him. I’ll never really know when Elvis got bitten by the bug of loving the applause of the audience, but my guess is that it happened right then in Humes High School. At last, it seemed, he had found a way to make outsiders love him.”