Shocking Deathbed Secrets Reveal THE REAL Elvis: The King's Best Pal Confessed Dark Truth Before His Own Sudden End
Elvis' deathbed secrets revealed by his best friend before his sudden death expose the King's dark truth.
May 5 2025, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
A trusted boyhood buddy of Elvis Presley, who worked as his bodyguard until they became estranged in the 1970s, revealed The King's darkest secrets to RadarOnline.com from his own deathbed.
It was now or never for Red West, 81, who called a friend to his side just prior to passing away on July 18 – and confessed all he had in his heavy heart about the rock and roll icon.
Red West made a haunting final confession about The King before his own death.
The insider said: "Red knew Elvis since high school and loved him like a brother. He was shattered that the two of them never reconciled before Elvis left this world."
West, a charter member of the Memphis Mafia (as Elvis' entourage was called), knew his end was near after suffering a heart attack.
So with the 40th anniversary of Elvis' untimely 1977 demise looming, he felt compelled to tell all about the pal who chose drugs over friends.
"Red was the one who tried the hardest to save Elvis from himself," the insider said. “Sadly, that got him fired before he could stop his dearest friend from poisoning himself with drugs."
The King banished Red, along with his cousin, Sonny West, and bodyguard pal Dave Hebler – his three closest compadres – after they complained to his manager, Col. Tom Parker, about how drugs were killing him.
"He took pills to go to sleep," Red told the insider. “He took pills to wake up. He took pills to go to the john and pills to STOP him from going to the john. There were times when he was so hyper on uppers that he had trouble breathing – and thought he was going to die."
Red also revealed manipulative Col. Parker orchestrated The King's pill-popping to keep his money-making megastar under his thumb. That drove Red and the other guys away.
The trio was fired just a year before a bloated, drug-addled Presley’s body gave up from the abuse, and he died a humiliating death on his bathroom throne.
Col. Tom Parker's control and drug manipulation left Presley tragically isolated.
Yet Red was to learn that Presley regretted being friendless during his final days – and in the end, turned his back on the Colonel for banishing his boys at the worst possible moment.
"Word got back to Red after Elvis died that he blew up at the Colonel over the firings," said the insider. "Then he went into a tailspin and didn't have Red, Sonny, and Dave around to reign him in."
The saddest secret Red carried close to the vest concerns his tormented romantic life – explaining why the rocker never found happiness with the one woman he truly loved.
"Elvis adored Priscilla [Presley], but it wasn't intense like it was with Ann-Margret,” the insider said.
The two stars met in 1963 while shooting Viva Las Vegas, and as Ann remembers the magic: "Others saw sparks from the start."
West revealed from his deathbed, Ann-Margret was the woman Presley truly wanted.
The talented temptress was clearly The King's perfect match.
"Music ignited a fiery, pent-up passion inside Elvis and inside me,” said Ann. "We looked at each other's move and saw virtual mirror images. When Presley thrust his pelvis, mine slammed forward too."
The image Red has of Elvis and Ann was sizzling: "Their chemistry was explosive. They were like a house on fire!"
Then he told his friend that it wasn't Priscilla he wanted for his wife, but Ann.
The insider said: "He wanted to marry that girl. It broke his heart that they had to end it. While Elvis and Ann's passion did move from the movie set to the bedroom, their romance was doomed. Elvis had already installed teenage Priscilla at Graceland and was honor bound to make an honest woman out of her."
"We knew the relationship had to end," Ann, 76, wistfully recalled. "Elvis had to fulfill his commitment."
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Priscilla Presley's family threatened legal action that forced Elvis into a doomed marriage.
Priscilla's family also threatened him with a lawsuit, said another source.
They would have accused him of the seduction of a minor because Priscilla was only 15 when she began staying at Graceland.
He also could have gotten into trouble for turning Priscilla onto drugs.
"He introduced her to uppers and downers so that she could reprogram her schedule to keep up with him,” said the source. "They would sleep during the day and party all night.”
So Elvis reluctantly kept his promise, and the courtship culminated in their 1967 marriage, daughter Lisa Marie, and a divorce in 1973.
As his own end drew near, Elvis' long-lost amigo was unafraid.
"He told me, 'I've got something to look forward to," the insider said. "Going to the other side will bring me and my pal together again."
