Elvis Presley: Lisa Marie Always Asked Her Father to Perform These 2 Classic Songs
Although Elvis Presley was Lisa Marie Presley’s father, he was also her favorite performer. She loved watching him on stage and recording the songs that have since become industry classics. However, Lisa Marie had her favorite Elvis songs. She always asked him to perform these two classic tunes from his extensive catalog.
Lisa Marie Presley’s two favorite Elvis Presley songs were soulful classics
Elvis Presley’s music catalog consisted of hundreds of songs. With so many to pick from, Lisa Marie Presley narrowed her choices to two.
Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough, shared her mom’s choices in her late mother’s soon-to-be-released autobiography, From Here to the Great Unknown. People Magazine published an excerpt.
“I had certain songs that I liked; “Hurt” and “How Great Thou Art.” I would ask him to sing those songs for me, and he would always say yes,” Lisa Marie revealed.
“Hurt” was covered by Elvis in 1976, and the song reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart. The original song was recorded in 1954 by Roy Hamilton, whose version peaked at number eight on the R&B Best Seller chart. It was also covered by Jimmie Crane, Al Jacobs, and Juice Newton.
Elvis Presley recorded “How Great Thou Art” in May 1966. The song was part of his gospel album, How Great Thou Art, which was recorded during the same sessions. This recording would go on to mark Elvis’ first Grammy win for “Best Sacred Performance.”
Lisa Marie Presley said going to Elvis Presley’s shows was her ‘favorite thing in the world’
In the book From Here to the Great Unknown, Lisa Marie Presley shared that seeing her father perform live was her “favorite thing in the world.” She said, “I was so proud of him.”
In the book, Lisa explains, “Going to his shows was my favorite thing in the world. I was so proud of him. He would take me by the hand and bring me out onstage, then get walked to wherever his place was on the stage, and I would be taken from him and brought to wherever I was going to be sitting in the audience, usually with Vernon [Presley].”
“The electricity of those shows. There’s nothing I’ve felt that’s been even close to that feeling ever. Electrifying is such a generic word but it really is what it felt like. I loved watching him perform,” Lisa Marie concluded.
How did ‘From Here to the Great Unknown’ come about?
According to the book’s official website, From Here to the Great Unknown are a collection of her life experiences. She planned to write an autobiography, but her life was cut short at 54 in January 2023.
Prior to her death, instead of writing her story down, Lisa Marie made hours of recordings to discuss life at Graceland, living in the shadow of her famous father, life in LA, and her many romantic relationships. Lisa Marie also spoke of the day Elvis died, “getting dragged screaming out of the bathroom as she ran toward his body on the floor.”
In the book, Lisa Marie discusses motherhood, parenting Riley and her siblings, the late Benjamin Keough, and twins Finley and Harper Lockwood. She also speaks of the overwhelming pain she felt upon Ben’s death and carrying on the Presley legacy.
From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough comes out on Oct. 8, 2024.
