Elvis Presley had an extremely close relationship with his mom, Gladys. According to his wife, Priscilla Presley, Elvis viewed Gladys as the love of his life. He also believed they shared some sort of psychic connection. After Elvis had a near-death experience, his mother woke up miles away, positive that something was wrong.
Elvis Presley believed he had an intuitive link with his mom
Priscilla Presley never met Gladys, as she’d died shortly before she met Elvis. Still, she got a sense of her through the stories Elvis told. It was clear to her that Elvis had an unusually close relationship with his mom. Due to his sleepwalking habits, he slept in his parents’ bed until he was grown, and he never spent the night away from home.
“It was Elvis’ habit to phone Gladys every day,” Priscilla wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “I was surprised to learn that up until the time he began entertaining, he never spent a night away from home.”
Elvis believed his connection to his mother was more profound than most people’s. After a car accident, he began thinking they had a psychic link to one another.
“He told me of the time his car caught on fire while on the road and he barely escaped with his life,” she wrote. “Although she was miles away, Gladys sat straight up in her bed and screamed his name — the intuitive link between them was that strong. Her concern for his welfare while he was away from home was so great that she would spend sleepless nights until his call came, telling her he was safe.”
Elvis believed his connection to his mother was more profound than most people’s. After a car accident, he began thinking they had a psychic link to one another.
“He told me of the time his car caught on fire while on the road and he barely escaped with his life,” she wrote. “Although she was miles away, Gladys sat straight up in her bed and screamed his name — the intuitive link between them was that strong. Her concern for his welfare while he was away from home was so great that she would spend sleepless nights until his call came, telling her he was safe.”
Gladys Presley struggled with her son’s move to Germany
Gladys’ health began to deteriorate when Elvis joined the Army. She feared deeply for her son’s safety.
“Elvis believed that his mother had eventually given up on life,” Priscilla wrote. “Her health had begun to deteriorate when he was drafted. Her love for Vernon and Elvis was so great that she could never face the loss of either of them and often said she wanted to be the first to go.”
Gladys’ fear had to do with the fact that Elvis was in Germany. She still connected the country with World War II and believed he was in danger.
“In Gladys’ naive, country way she assumed that Germany still represented war and danger,” Priscilla wrote. “She could never understand that peacetime conditions now prevailed.”
Elvis’ relationship with his mom ruined one of his relationships
Before Elvis and Priscilla began their relationship, he briefly dated Natalie Wood. The relationship came to a crashing halt after Wood visited Presley’s family home.
“His mother said something like, ‘Come and sit on Mama’s lap,’” Wood’s sister Lana told Closer Weekly. “They were very affectionate, and it bothered Natalie.”
Wood called Lana, desperate for an excuse to get out of the house.
“Gladys has wrecked everything,” Wood told Lana over the phone, per her book Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister. “I don’t have a chance. Get me out of this, and fast.”
