Shirley Searcy Delgado, who dated Elvis Presley about 50 years ago during the singer's early career, died Monday in her Houston home, apparently of a heart attack. She was 72.
In the mid-1950s, Presley spotted Delgado in the audience at the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, where he was performing, said her son, Victor Matthew Delgado of Houston.
During an intermission, Presley "grabbed her and took her backstage to the band, saying, 'Look what I found,' " her son said.
Romance ensued, and Presley and Shirley Delgado intended to marry, her son said. But Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, decided that "marriage was not a good business move" for the singer, he added.
Delgado and Presley, however, continued to see each other from time to time but eventually went their separate ways, Victor Delgado said.