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Elvis Presley Once Pulled an Extreme Prank on His Graceland Guests

Elvis Presley was quite an eccentric host. He often played pranks on his guests visiting Graceland.

While Graceland may have been a family space, Elvis Presley still knew how to party and hang out with friends. He was known for his fun personality and jokester ways. From having Alice Cooper hold a gun to his head to pranks on his backup singers, Presley was often unpredictable.

Once he pulled an extreme prank on his guests by inviting them to the mansion’s basement.

Lisa Marie Presley Describes Graceland Chaos

Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, had grown up in Graceland for part of her life. She was only 9 when Elvis passed away. She had also moved out when her parents got divorced. However, her visits and her time there were always memorable.

In an interview on “The Talk” from 2013, Presley talked about spending time with her dad in her room, late-night golf games, and a hectic household. There was one particular room Lisa Presley remembers for being particularly rowdy. According to Express, Elvis Presley spent time in the basement of his house.

“The basement was always a room for whatever reason for mayhem. I would transform when I would go down the stairs and I don’t know why, just throwing things down there and getting into trouble … He, I found out later, threw a tear gas bomb or laughing gas when everyone was down here. There were exits so people could get out…” Lisa Presley said.

While he was known for his pranks, Presley went even further by dropping a tear gas grenade inside of his own home.

Elvis Presley And His Other Prank

In a 2017 interview with Memphis Magazine, Elvis Presley’s best friend and bodyguard, Red West, talked about the prank the two once conjured up after a Las Vegas concert. The King and his Memphis Mafia were specifically targeting his backup singers, known as the Stamps Quartet.

Elvis and his bodyguards staged a fake gun threat. They led everyone up to the suite and told them there was an active gun threat. Then one of Presley’s friends jumped in and shot off some blank bullets. J.D. Sumner, the patriarch of the Stamps Quartet, pushed Elvis Presley to the ground and covered him with his own body.

He thought that Presley was quivering in fear while pinned on the ground. In reality, he was quietly trying to hold in his laughter.

“Afterwards, when they got over the upset and were laughing about it, J.D. said, ‘You know, I pushed Elvis down and could feel him shaking. I thought he was scared, but he was just laughing!’ And nobody laughed harder than Elvis,” West wrote.

Although the group was very reasonably upset, Elvis Presley had been known for his humor, charm, and elaborate pranks.