January 17 - Public Memorial Service at Graceland (Updated)

Lisa Marie Presley's family shared that they will hold a public memorial service to honer her memory on Sunday, January 22, for the late singer following her death on January 12, 2023.

Update January 18: Lisa Marie Presley’s Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, January 22, at 9:00 am on Graceland’s Front Lawn. In addition to family and friends, the general public is invited to attend. Following the service, there will be a procession to view Lisa’s final resting place in Meditation Garden.

If you are unable to attend the service in Memphis, the ceremony will be available to watch online via Graceland’s >>> Livestream page and as well as broadcasted on >>> SiriusXM Elvis Radio on Sunday beginning at 9 AM CST (Memphis).

Service Information

Lisa Marie’s memorial service will take place on the front lawn of Graceland. Fans will gather on the north lawn of Graceland Mansion, adjacent to the seated area on the center lawn that will be reserved for Lisa Marie’s family and friends. Access to the north lawn will be standing room only, on a first come, first served basis as space allows. 

Guest Access Service

At 5:00 am, fans will be allowed to enter Elvis Presley’s Memphis complex via the TCB white gates, located inside main parking lot. After entering through the gates, proceed up the ramp, turn left at Vernon’s Smokehouse, and then proceed down across the footbridge to a queue line area in front of the airplane terminal. Joining the queue line via the Graceland parking lot/TCB white gates is the only point of access – you will not be able to enter the queue line via Elvis Presley Blvd.  

At 7:00 am, fans in the queue line will begin to pass through the security check point before being escorted across Elvis Presley Blvd., through the main Graceland gates, and allowed to proceed to Graceland’s north lawn via the driveway.

The north lawn area can accommodate hundreds of people, but since we cannot predict turnout, we cannot guarantee entry. This area will be limited to standing room only, and once the area is full, fans will be asked to remain outside the gates until the procession to Meditation Garden begins following the service.

Meditation Garden Procession

Following the memorial service, all fans may join a procession to Meditation Garden where Lisa Marie and her family have been laid to rest and then back down through the front gates. All guests on the north lawn will be able to join the procession following friends and family. EPE staff will be on hand to provide direction to those fans on the north lawn.

Fans unable to access the north lawn for the service due to capacity, will be allowed to join procession as well. To participate in the procession, you MUST be in the queue line in front of the airplane terminal no later than 11:00 am. No one will be able to join the queue/procession line after this time.

“Riley, Harper, Finley, and Priscilla are grateful for the support, well-wishes, and outpouring of love honoring their beloved Lisa Marie,” a rep for the famous family told Us Weekly in a statement on Monday, January 16. “A public memorial service has been arranged on the front lawn of Graceland at 9:00 am on Sunday, January 22, in Memphis." 

Please visit the official >>> Graceland website for more information.

In lieu of flowers, Priscilla and her granddaughters requested that those “who wish to send something” do so by donating to The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation. The philanthropic organization offers “support to various charitable organizations, especially focusing on arts, education, and children’s programs in the Memphis / Whitehaven area.” 

You can >>> donate here.

Meanwhile preparations were made in the Meditation Garden at Graceland for the funeral of Lisa Marie Presley. Her gravesite will be positioned around the famous backyard fountain, and as expected, in close proximity to her father, Elvis Presley.

Since work begun, Graceland's 24/7 camera feed which normally shows the grounds, has been shut down. Graceland's front entrance is adorned with flowers that have been left by fans since Lisa's sudden passing last week.

Elvis Presley Ultimate Music Guide

Uncut magazine published the 'Elvis Presley Ultimate Music Guide' Special Edition magazine.

Description: Presenting the Ultimate Music Guide to the king of rock ‘n’ roll: Elvis Presley. From Sun Studios to Vegas, via our authoritative in-depth reviews of the music, and thrilling contemporary interviews and reports from the scene of the action. 'Elvis was right...' Austin Butler on playing the king inside! Thank you very much!

When Elvis died in 1977 it was big news all round the world – with the notable exception of my primary school. During a morning assembly in the new school year, my headteacher addressed a hall of cross-legged children with the solemn news that a very famous singer had recently died. “Does anyone know who that was?” she asked. We, all only familiar the recent TV news coverage about Elvis, thought the question was probably rhetorical.

“That’s right,” she said. “I’m talking about Bing Crosby.”

John Lennon famously said that before Elvis there was nothing, but that wasn’t strictly the case. As you’ll read in this latest Ultimate Music Guide, there was a whole previous generation of pop singers, and Bing – so beloved on my headteacher – was the guy routinely quizzed about Elvis’s rise. What did he think? Would it last? Bing – not engaging with the rock revolution per se – observed that perhaps Elvis would do well to try some different styles of song. Good advice, as it turned out.

Bing wasn’t the only one to help the writers of NME and Melody Maker register the impact of this new singer, and his new sound. Among the manufactured rivalries (“Elvis v Pat Boone”; “Elvis v Johnnie Ray” “No Presley without Haley”) created at the time by a British press struggling for information in an enormous world, Johnnie Ray makes the wise observation that Elvis is a force helping to make the world smaller. Such is the demand for Elvis’s music, Ray notes, his records are being released at the same time in the USA and England.

The NME isn’t slow to pick up on the fact that Elvis isn’t just a singer, but a force which portends far more. He has “swarthy good looks” and “sex appeal”, and it’s this which gives him the power to unsettle parents. And in so doing, they imply, sow the seeds for something remarkable and generational to follow

What comes next for Elvis, and for the world, you can read in this comprehensive guide, in a selection of gems from our archive of historic Elvis writing. We’ve also done what you might have thought impossible: we’ve mase sense of Elvis’s many hundreds of recordings, finding our way through a baffling profusion of budget compilations, indifferent film soundtracks and outtakes to bring you a definitive guide to the absolute pick of Elvis’s extraordinary catalogue. The landmark early sessions. The religious ones. The decent film soundtracks. The comeback records and the late classics. You’ll find it all inside.

Whether it’s through the music, or a fantastic new film like Baz Luhrmann’s current biopic, new people are always having their heads turned by Elvis. Hopefully we can help you navigate your way through his kingdom. Enjoy the issue.

(Source: Graceland / Uncut Magazine / TMZ)