Behind the Gates at Graceland – Rolling Stone

Friends Jeanine Ardahl Lisa Larson drove all night from Minnesota to Graceland, arriving in Memphis at 4:30 in the morning, Lisa Marie PresleyWho died last week at 54.

Erdahl and Larson became best friends seven years ago, having bonded over their love for each other’s Elvis. memorial service A stone’s throw away from mourners’ favorite places axel rose When Alanis Morissette He paid a musical tribute to the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley.

“She was part of our generation. [we] I have seen her go through life’s hardships and overcome them,” Ardahl said. rolling stone“She had strength and character and passion and looked like a lot of fun.”

Mourners traveled from all over the world to pay their respects to Lisa Marie, who was also a talented musician herself and the caretaker of her father’s legacy for most of her life. Debbie of Courtenay, Columbia, British Her Ms. Ramage was finally set to visit Graceland for her 60th birthday next year, but is now here to pay tribute to her family. Did. “I think she was great,” Ramage says of Lisa Marie. “She looked a lot like her father. She had a beautiful spirit like her father and she was a beautiful singer.”

Family, friends and an estimated thousands of mourners gathered in front of a stage set just behind the gates of Graceland under a cold, gray Memphis winter sky. Spent his first four years. As a series of guests took to the stage, from Priscilla Presley to Memphis Mafia alum Jerry Schilling, attendees lined up in a circular drive and stretched out toward the stone wall that runs along the north side of the property. As each guest exited the tent, the crowd, without prompting, held a picture of Lisa Marie aloft and waved respectfully.

The musical performance is mostly sober, as is the overall mood. Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins (whose friendship with Lisa Marie traces back to their 2003 collaboration “Savior”) adore Cut “To Sheila” with acoustic guitar. Alanis Her Morissette took the stage with a pianist to sing “Rest,” which Chester wrote after Bennington’s suicide in 2017, and released it on Mental Health Her Action Day 2021.

And with a surprise appearance that could only be seen in Elvis’s own cameo appearance, axel rose Appeared. Dressed in a long, dark coat and scarf, the Guns N’ Roses frontman is defenseless and emotional, standing behind the podium at Graceland and being asked to speak at the memorial service. He kept his mouth shut and admitted that he was nervous. “I’m still in shock,” said Rose, a longtime friend of Lisa Marie. As he read from his phone, I sat down at the grand piano and played GNR’s signature ballad, “November Rain,” with my fingers.

After a little over an hour of worship, mourners, who were asked not to take pictures of family and guests out of respect for Lisa Marie, walked quietly down Graceland’s driveway to meet Lisa in the meditation garden.・I went to Marie’s last resting place. Thousands of Presley devotees attend each August 15th for a candlelit memorial service marking the anniversary of Elvis’ death.

Wreaths sent by Elvis fan clubs in Italy, Japan, Sweden and Germany lined the walkway leading to the garden. A bouquet of white and red roses was placed nearby, accompanied by a card that read, “In Loving Memory, From Axl Rose.” The mourners slowly made their way through, first past the graves of Elvis and his parents Gladys and Vernon, then winding down to pay their respects at the grave of Lisa Marie next to his son Benjamin Keough. rice field. Flowers, stuffed animals and other memorabilia surrounded the mausoleum, and another bouquet of white roses (this one sent by Oprah Winfrey) bridged them.

After paying tribute, Katrina McElvis of Memphis — her mother was a nurse to Dr. George Nikopoulos, Elvis’ controversial doctor — and sometimes plays Elvis’ mother in his life reenactments. — looked back on the memory of Lisa Marie and what she meant to people. The global Elvis community.

“She was someone who cared, not just about her family and her father’s legacy. She cared about her fans, she cared about her tribute artists,” says McElyea. “She truly loved each and every one of us. To be here and be able to repay even a fraction of her love is really special to me.”