Lisa Marie Presley To Perform At The Grand Ole Opry
My only question is how could Lisa Marie not know the famed story of her father’s Grand Ole Opry appearance until 2003? Any basic biography on Elvis has the story–something a daughter would seem to know.
Lisa Marie Presley is set to make her “Grand Ole Opry” debut this Tuesday, and when she thinks about it, she can’t help but remember the stories she heard about the first — and last — time her father, Elvis Presley, played the famous stage.
“The thing about that performance is that it was one of his very, very early performances and he was told to basically go back and be a truck driver,” she recalls. “I don’t think he ever played it again as a result. I can understand that.
“At the same time, it puts even more undue pressure on me. It’s one of the trials and woes that he had as an up-and-coming artist trying to break (through). I’m sure he was horribly offended and insulted and devastated by that.”
Presley said she had never heard the story until right after she got a standing ovation at Ryman Auditorium following her opening set for Chris Isaak in 2003.
“My mom was there, and she told me, ‘You don’t understand. This is great, because when your father played here, this is what happened,’ ” Presley said, explaining that the “Opry” had been at the Ryman the night of Elvis’ performance. “It was like, ‘Oh my God.’ You have no idea.”
