Memphis — Elvis Presley wrote a message on the stone wall in front of Graceland, the storied Memphis mansion that housed Lisa Marie, his private plane customized with a studded jumpsuit and gold bathroom fittings Some people left flowers.
the next day Death of Lisa Marie Presley54, the singer-songwriter and Elvis’ only child, Fan mourned her death and remembered how Presley impacted their lives.
At Graceland Friday, Stephanie T. Perez, whose great-aunt taught Elvis in high school and whose grandfather worked as an upholsterer, said she visited the same place as her mother many years ago. When the king of rock’n’roll diedShe was 2 years old.
“I felt it was important to be on this street on the day his daughter died,” said Perez, now 47. “You hate it for them. You hate it for Elvis’ legacy. You hate it for her life that was cut short. I just want to express my condolences.”
Currently owned by Lisa Marie Presley mansion and original grounds According to Lede Co., which represents her daughter Riley Keough, she will be buried in Graceland. said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear what caused Presley’s death on Friday. “She was the most passionate, strong, loving woman I’ve ever known,” Presley said.
Lisa Marie Presley is famous from birth, the daughter of the world’s biggest star. And while she was trying to carve her own path as a singer, she was best known for her sort of rock star royalty.She is the only daughter of Elvis, and she was born in 1994. was married to Michael Jackson until 1996.
But she lived a turbulent life devastated by loss. She lost her father when she was 9 years old. She has been married and divorced four times struggled with opioid addictionHer son, Benjamin Keough, committed suicide in 2020.Six months before her own death, she wrote about grieving his losssaying it “destroyed” her, but she carried on for the sake of her three daughters.
Fans mourned her outside Graceland. The eclectic eight-bedroom mansion in Memphis, which Presley inherited after his father’s death, opened to the public as a museum in 1982.
Graceland is home to more than a million artifacts, including a faux fur cocoon bed with stereo in the canopy. Then there was Mr. Presley’s private jet, Lisa’s Marie, with four televisions and her 52-speaker stereo.
Within hours of the news of Presley’s passing late Thursday, a dozen or so Elvis fans arrived at Graceland in coats and gloves on a windy and chilly night.
Kimber Tomlinson, 49, recalled that Elvis fans in Memphis were obsessed with Lisa Marie from the beginning. took her to Graceland, she added.
“Sad, very sad,” said Mr Tomlinson. “Her life has always been in the spotlight,” she added, referring to Lisa Marie, “whose family shares heart attacks and heartbreak.”
Ms. Tomlinson recounted the Presley family’s long history of loss. Elvis’ mother, Gladys, died in 1958 when she was 46. Elvis died in 1977 heart failure at age 42; Lisa Marie’s son, Benjamin Keough, committed suicide in 2020 at age 27. And now there was the death of Lisa Marie.
The sprawling estate opened for business as usual on Friday, just days after Presley joined fans at the mansion on Sunday to celebrate Elvis’ 88th birthday.
Jason Hanley, vice president of education for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, said Ms. Presley’s death was a cultural touchstone of sorts. She married the “King of Pop”. Her death, he said, imbued with a special wistfulness and nostalgia for the era that changed American music.
“She was the heir to Elvis’ empire and rock ‘n’ roll royalty, and recorded three great albums that wanted to say something about herself in the shadow of her father’s legacy.” It’s heartbreaking for us because it marks the passage of time.”
One of her ex-husbands, actor Nicolas Cage, told The Hollywood Reporter He was devastated by Ms. Presley’s death. “Lisa laughed more than anyone I’ve ever met,” he was quoted as saying. “She lights up every room and it breaks my heart.” Michael Jackson’s estate said in a statement that Jackson “cherished the special bond” he and Ms. Presley shared. “During our time together, I was comforted by Lisa Marie’s generous love, care, and concern,” he said.
Ms. Presley released three albums, made her father the first big rock star with a unique cocktail that blended blues, gospel, pop and country, and continued his father’s music that changed American music forever while also creating his own. set out to pave the way for the music of
She said she was hesitant to rely on her last name. However, she had her own record rejected by her label and her personal ‘Lights Out’ was created. That’s where my family was buried” – her debut single in 2003.
Her father’s legacy greater than life remained in her right until her final days. tell the TV host Austin Butler, who won Best Actress for her role in the Baz Luhrmann biopic Elvis, was the perfect embodiment of her father.
But at Graceland Friday, it was Lisa Marie that Presley fans remembered. Perez left her own message on her Graceland wall: “Godspeed, LMP.”
Cindy Wolf Contributing to reporting from Memphis, Nicole Sperling Originally from Los Angeles.