Wally Safford

Wallace "Wally" Safford (10 November 1959, Detroit — 9 September 2022, Southfield, Michigan) was an American bodyguard, dancer, and background vocalist primarily known for extensively collaborating with Prince between 1984 and 1987. He published a memoir, "Wally, Where'd You Get Those Glasses? My Life Through the Lens from Parliament, Pendergrass & Prince," co-authored with Margena A. Christian, in 2019. Safford grew up in Detroit, and his parents were close friends with the Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali. Wally trained with the NOI in his early years and subsequently founded a career in personal security. During the Motown boom, he was a bodyguard for prominent musicians and bands, including Teddy Pendergrass, Parliament-Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Commodores. In the early 1980s, Wally Safford began working for Morris Day and Vanity, soon joining the so-called "Purple Gang," Chick Huntsberry's team protecting Prince directly, starting with...