Fans and celebrities gather at Graceland to mourn Lisa Marie Presley: NPR

Memphis, Tenn. — Lisa Marie Presley, singer-songwriter and daughter of Elvis Presley, was remembered during Sunday’s funeral as a loving mother and “old soul” who endured tragedy but persevered as a faithful protector of her father’s legacy as a rock and roll pioneer and pop icon.

More than a thousand people gathered on the front lawn of Graceland on a cold gray Memphis morning to mourn the death and remember the life of Lisa Marie Presley, who died on January 12th After she was transferred to a hospital in California.

Some mourners carried flowers as they waited for mass to begin under tall trees in Graceland Park, the home in Memphis where Lisa Marie lived with her father as a child. The mansion, owned by Lisa Marie Presley, has been converted into a museum and tourist attraction that hundreds of thousands of fans visit each year to celebrate the life and music of Elvis, who died in 1977 at the age of 42.

The estate in South Memphis was a place of sadness and somber memories on Sunday. The service began with the singing of “Amazing Grace” by Jason Clarke and the Tennessee Collegiate Choir.

“We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the love, sympathy, and support you have shown our family during this difficult time,” said a message from Presley’s family written in the service program. “We will always be grateful.”

Among those who spoke during the service was Lisa Marie’s mother, actress Priscilla Presley. Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Jerry Schilling, a close friend of Elvis’; and former Memphis mayor A.C. Wharton, who called Lisa Marie’s parents the royal couple of Memphis and “a conduit to the throne, and keeper of the flame.”

In a soft voice, Priscilla Presley read a poem from one of Lisa Marie’s three daughters, Harper Vivian Ann Lockwood, titled “The Old Soul,” in which she described her mother as “an icon, a role model, and a superhero to so many people all around the world.”

Priscilla Presley said, “In 1968, she came into our world, born tired, fragile, but strong. She was delicate, but she was full of life.” “She always knew she wouldn’t be here for long. Childhood goes by, with a glimpse of her green eye. Then she raises a family of her own.”

After reading the poem, Priscilla Presley said, “Our heart is broken. Lisa, we all love you.”

Music punctuates the service. Billy Corgan, lead singer of The Smashing Pumpkins, played acoustic guitar and sang “To Sheila”; Alanis Morissette sang “Rest”. Axl Rose, from Guns N’ Roses, played piano and sang “November Rain”. and The Blackwood Brothers Quartet performing two songs.

After the service, mourners walked through Graceland’s Meditation Garden, where she was laid to rest in an above-ground tomb next to her son Benjamin Keough, who died in 2020, along with her grandparents and grandmother.

Garlands and bouquets of red, white, yellow and pink flowers lined the path up to the cemetery and the tomb itself. Fans, some tearful, walked slowly by the grave, pausing to express their condolences.

Jordan Clarke, 25, traveled from Mobile, Alabama, to attend the service. She described the ceremony as private and relaxing. Clark said that Lisa Marie “was through a lot” in her life and equated the service to the time Elvis died, when “people came from everywhere”.

“I was born into the audience, I was born into the fame. It’s hard for some people,” Clark said. “She handled it like a champ. I guess.”

Lisa Marie was nine years old when her father died. She was staying at Graceland at the time and was remembering him hours before his death. When she saw him the next day, he was lying face down in the bathroom.

After her father’s death, she became the sole heiress of the Elvis Presley Trust, which—along with Elvis Presley Enterprises—managed Graceland and other assets until she sold her interest in 2005. She retained ownership of the mansion itself, the 13 acres around it and the items inside the house.

A representative from Elvis Presley Enterprises told The Associated Press that the mansion is in a trust that will go for the benefit of her children. Together with Harper, she is survived by two more daughters – Riley Keough and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood.

Riley Keough, an actor, did not speak at the service. Her husband, Ben Smith Petersen, read a statement in which she recalled Lisa Marie taking her out for ice cream, bringing her Cracker Barrel tea sets, and leaving notes in her lunch box.

“Thank you for giving me strength, my heart, my empathy, my courage, my sense of humor, my morals, my temper, my rambunctiousness, my stubbornness,” Riley Keough said in the statement. “I am the product of your heart.”