Behind the Graceland Gates at Lisa Marie's Memorial: ‘We Watched Her Go Through Her Struggles’



By Jim Beaugez

Friends Jeanene Erdahl and Lisa Larson drove each nighttime from Minnesota to Graceland, arriving successful Memphis astatine four:30 wrong the greeting to queue up for a memorial honoring the beingness of Lisa Marie Presley, who died last week astatine 54. Later today, they’ll crook astir and bash it again.

Erdahl and Larson, who person go accelerated friends 7 years agone aft bonding implicit their communal emotion of Elvis, watched the memorial provider simply steps from wherever mourners similar Axl Rose and Alanis Morissette were paying philharmonic tribute to the simplest kid of Elvis and Priscilla Presley.

“She became a portion of our technology, and [we] watched her acquisition struggles successful her beingness and flooded them,” Erdahl tells Rolling Stone. “She had powerfulness and quality and pizzazz, and she conscionable seemed truthful a laugh.”

Mourners traveled from astir the assemblage to wage their respects to Lisa Marie, a skilled instrumentalist herself, successful summation to the caretaker of her father’s bequest for maximum of her existence. Debbie Ramage of Courtenay, British Columbia, changed into readying to yet sojourn Graceland adjacent yr connected her 60th birthday, but determined to instrumentality present alternatively to wage her respects to the family. “I deliberation she became exceptional,” Ramage says of Lisa Marie. “She turned into precise conscionable similar her father. She’s got that beauteous tone similar her dad, and she was a beauteous singer.”

Under a chilly, grey wintertime entity successful Memphis, ain family, friends, and a assemblage of mourners expected successful the heaps collected successful the beforehand of a level acceptable up simply successful the backmost of the gates of Graceland — the mansion Elvis sold successful 1957 and the location wherein Lisa Marie spent her archetypal 4 years. Attendees lined the circular unit and stretched towards the chromatic partition going for walks alongside the northbound facet of the assets arsenic a succession of guests, from Priscilla Presley to Memphis Mafia alum Jerry Schilling, took the dais. As each visitant exited the tent, the pack — uompted — raised aloft pix of Lisa Marie and waved them successful tribute.

Like the wide mood, the philharmonic performances were successful astir cases somber, with Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins (whose relationship with Lisa Marie dates to their 2003 collaboration “Savior”) gambling the Adore trim “To Sheila” connected an acoustic guitar. Alanis Morissette took the level with a pianist to sing “Rest,” which she wrote aft Chester Bennington’s termination successful 2017 and launched for Mental Health Action Day successful 2021. 

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Then successful a marvel look that would lone beryllium overshadowed done a cameo from Elvis himself, Axl Rose emerged. Dressed successful an extended darkish overgarment and scarf, the Guns N’ Roses frontman, susceptible and emotional, stood successful the backmost of the podium astatine Graceland and admitted helium became tongue-tied and disquieted astir being requested to speech astatine the memorial. “I’m nevertheless successful surprise, arsenic I consciousness similar I volition enactment for beauteous a while,” Rose, a longtime pal of Lisa Marie, stated. “I consciousness similar I’m imagined to beryllium texting her similar due now.” He accompanied his feedback, survey from his cellphone, by utilizing taking a spot astatine the expansive soft and gambling a fleet-fingered rendition of GNR’s sature ballad, “November Rain.”

Following the just-over-an-hour carrier, the mourners — who person been asked nary longer to representation ellipse of relatives members and guests retired of respect for Lisa Marie — softly walked Graceland’s driveway to Lisa Marie’s precise past resting portion wrong the Meditation Garden, the adjacent way that tons of the Presley trustworthy instrumentality each August 15 arsenic a portion of the candlelight vigil to people the day of Elvis’ dying.