Goodbye, Lisa Marie

By Victoria R. Crosby

As a long-time Elvis fan, I was thrilled to see Austin Butler win a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Elvis, then crushed a few days later to hear that Lisa Marie Presley had died of a heart attack just weeks short of her fifty-fifth birthday. She didn’t look well at the Golden Globes, although two days before that, she was signing autographs and taking selfies with fans at Graceland in Memphis, celebrating what would have been her father’s 88th birthday.

I empathized with Lisa Marie, as I also lost my father when I was nine years old. But her father was a world-famous person who died at home where she witnessed the traumatic aftermath of his passing. I also felt for her when she lost her son Benjamin in 2020; then one of my sons died in 2021, so I understand her heartbreak.

People left bunches of flowers that covered the top of the wall that surrounds Graceland, and onto the sidewalk and the famous musical gates. They left flowers, candles, and notes of condolence to the family. Large flower arrangements filled the areas surrounding the Meditation Garden where Lisa Marie was buried next to her son Benjamin who committed suicide, and where Elvis, his parents, and grandmother are buried, with a small marker for Jessie Garon, his twin brother who was stillborn. Historically, the greatest number of flowers sold in one day in the USA was on August 16, 1977, the day Elvis died.

The Presley Family had requested that in lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation. This nonprofit offers support to various charitable organizations, especially those focused in the arts, education, and children’s programs in the Memphis area, or to St. Jude’s Hospital, which Elvis had supported.

Several thousand people waited in the early morning hours to gather on the lawn in Graceland to attend the memorial celebration of Lisa Marie Presley’s life. The family and friends were seated in chairs under a tent. Austin Butler and producer Baz Luhrmann were there, as well as James Burdon, Elvis’s guitarist, who was in a wheelchair recovering from recent surgery. Elvis Gospel music played before and after the service.

Jason Clark and the Tennessee Mass Choir sang Amazing Grace, followed by opening remarks from Joel Weinshanker, managing partner at Elvis Presley Enterprises, who said Lisa had conveyed her final wishes, “Don’t make it sad.” However, this was impossible for her fans, friends, and family. The invocation was given by Pastor Dwayne Hunt, who also gave the benediction toward the end of the service.

Musical tributes included the song To Sheila by Billy Corgan of

Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morrissette sang Rest, and Axl Rose of Guns ‘N Roses sang November Rain. Sarah Ferguson spoke of her close friendship with Lisa Marie Presley and quoted her late motherin-law, Queen Elizabeth II: “Grief is the price we pay for love.” Then she read the poem A Tribute to the Children by George Frost, the son of British TV host David Frost for his memorial service.

Lisa Marie had lived in Sussex, England from 2010 until 2016, and once helped to serve fish and chips at the local pub.

A longtime friend of Elvis, Jerry Schilling, who had known Lisa since her birth, told of how he always referred to her as “Memphis.”

Her mother, Priscilla Presley, read a poem written by her granddaughter Riley called The Old Soul, which included the line, “she always knew she wouldn’t be here too long.” Priscilla also thanked her son, Lisa’s half-brother Navarone Garibaldi, for being there.

Lisa Marie’s oldest daughter, actress Riley Keogh, was in the program to read a remembrance, a letter she had written to her mother, but it was read instead by Riley’s husband, Australian stuntman Ben

Continued on page 16

Goodbye, Lisa Marie

Continued from page 15

Smith-Peterson. In the letter, Riley states that she hopes she can love her daughter the way she and her brother and sisters, fourteen-year-old twins Harper and Finley, were loved.

This statement revealed to the world that Lisa Marie was a grandmother, a fact kept private for months. Riley and Ben’s daughter is rumored to be named Tupelo, after Elvis Presley’s birthplace, and that she was born in August of 2022, although this has not been confirmed by the Presley family.

The Blackwood Brother Quartet sang How Great Thou Art and Sweet, Sweet Spirit, Gospel songs that Elvis loved. On the back of the program of service, there was an Acknowledgement from The Presley family that read, “We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for the love, compassion, and support you have shown our family during this difficult time.”

After the service, there was a silent procession through the Meditation Garden to view the gravesites.