Gracelands New Sole Owner, Riley Keough, Details Childhood on Elviss Iconic Estate

Table Of Content

• June 2023: Riley Keough to be the sole trustee to Lisa Marie Presley's estate, petitions court to approve settlement
• Elvis’s staff was retained after his death
• Passengers stranded as Bonza cancels flights in 'shattering news' for sector
• May 2023: Priscilla Presley settles dispute over Lisa Marie Presley's estate trust
• When did Graceland open to the public?
• Where will Lisa Marie Presley be buried?

She was the only daughter of the late music legend Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley. In 2006, Graceland was declared a National Historic Landmark and now attracts 650,000 visitors annually. The mansion is so famous that’s even inspired a wedding chapel in Las Vegas.

June 2023: Riley Keough to be the sole trustee to Lisa Marie Presley's estate, petitions court to approve settlement

Despite the passing of four decades, remarkably, there’s been no ebb in the steady flow of inquisitive tourists. People still go crazy for the King of Rock and Roll, and he’s especially having a cultural resurgence at the moment thanks to the Baz Luhrmann–directed biopic, called simply Elvis, which is set to hit theaters on June 24. For the film, which features Austin Butler in the titular role, Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley, and Tom Hanks as Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, Graceland was completely recreated on a set in Queensland, Australia. A fixture of music history, Graceland reports hosting 500,000 visitors a year across its 13-acre grounds and 17,552 square feet. So, Elvis fans, before you plan a trip to the iconic Tennessee property, here are all of the answers to your most pressing questions—including why you should visit, how much it costs, and where you should stay. Plus, dive into the history of the estate, from how much Elvis purchased it for to who owns it today.

Elvis’s staff was retained after his death

Ahead of her burial, the grounds of the superstar's Memphis home will be opened for a public memorial service honoring the singer-songwriter and mom of four, a representative for her eldest daughter Riley Keough confirmed to E! News, noting that she, 14-year-old sisters Harper and Finley Lockwood and Lisa Marie's mom Priscilla Presley "are grateful for the support, well-wishes and outpouring of love honoring their beloved Lisa Marie." Riley Keough, the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, will be the sole trustee for her late mother's estate, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY. In a court ruling from Friday, August 4, a Los Angeles judge named Keough the sole trustee of her mother Lisa Marie Presley's estate, which includes the iconic Memphis property.

Here's Who Will Inherit Graceland After Lisa Marie Presley's Death - E! NEWS

Here's Who Will Inherit Graceland After Lisa Marie Presley's Death.

Posted: Tue, 17 Jan 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Passengers stranded as Bonza cancels flights in 'shattering news' for sector

Elvis Presley Enterprises expanded the Elvis Presley experience at Graceland in 2017 by opening the 200,000 square foot entertainment and exhibition complex, Elvis Presley’s Memphis and one hotel called The Guest House of Graceland. Through it all, Graceland — now a national historic landmark — stayed in Presley’s hands. If it gets sold off after her death, Elvis Presley Enterprises, run by managing partner Joel Weinshanker, would be a good bet for the buyer, said Los Angeles-based lawyer Tre Lovell of the Lovell Firm. “There’s always complications anytime a single asset owner deceases and their assets are now going to go to multiple people because they may have different needs, different desires,” said Scott Rahn, founding partner at RMO LLP. With all the focus now on everything Elvis, things could get messy, according to legal experts who specialize in estates of high-net-worth individuals. Her father’s legacy is back in the mainstream (if it ever left) after a hit biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler was released by Warner Bros. this summer.

Everything You Need To Know About Elvis Presley's Graceland

Memphis saw a huge increase in tourism when Graceland opened to the public in 1982. Not only did the attraction draw crowds from all across the country, but the mansion and surrounding grounds have actually attracted visitors from nearly every country in the world. The land was in the Toof family for generations and was named after one of the family’s relatives, Grace. In 1939, Grace’s niece, Ruth Brown Moore, and her husband Dr. Thomas Moore, built the mansion, which became well known to Memphis locals.

May 2023: Priscilla Presley settles dispute over Lisa Marie Presley's estate trust

Graceland was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, becoming the first site recognized for significance related to rock music. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006, also a first for such a site. In exchange for Priscilla's resignation as a trustee, Keough will pay Priscilla a lump sum and reimbursement of legal fees up to $400,000.

Priscilla Presley became the chairwoman and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, or EPE, stating at that time she would do so until Lisa Marie reached 21 years of age. The enterprise's fortunes soared and eventually the trust grew to be worth over $100 million. The mania for all things Elvis Presley clearly did not die with him, as evidenced by multiple recent biopics and the enduring obsession with his final resting place, Graceland. At the time of his death, the estate and the family shares of Elvis Presley Enterprises were worth $5 million; Vanity Fair reports that today that number is closer to $500 million. The abode at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis is a pilgrimage site, drawing in over 4,000 visitors a day during the height of its tourist season, per Graceland’s accounting.

Lisa Marie Presley Was Rock 'n' Roll Royalty. Graceland Was Her Castle. (Published 2023) - The New York Times

Lisa Marie Presley Was Rock 'n' Roll Royalty. Graceland Was Her Castle. (Published .

Posted: Sat, 14 Jan 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Lisa Marie Presley, singer and daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, dies at 54

Graceland was the personal home of the king of rock ’n’ roll from 1957 until his death at the age of 42. For Ms. Presley, rock ’n’ roll royalty who died on Thursday in Los Angeles, Graceland was the castle where she spent holidays with her father, and notoriously had full daytime reign of its grand, chandelier-lit rooms while her night owl father slept. The familiar pink Alabama fieldstone wall that fronts the property was erected in 1957, to protect Presley's privacy and discourage trespassing fans. Grace's niece, Ruth Moore, referred to in newspaper reports as a "socialite" and "musical prodigy," and her husband, Thomas Moore, a doctor, built the Colonial Revival (sometimes called "Classical Revival") mansion in 1939. Before Elvis expanded it, the house contained 10,266 square feet.

Even as she stared down financial ruin, she held onto the estate. The Guest House at Graceland began booking room reservations for individual travelers, groups and corporate clients in March 2016. The hotel has been cited by numerous publications as one of the most exciting hotel opening worldwide in 2016. Elvis Presley outside the grounds of his Graceland estate circa 1957.

On Nov. 24, 1976, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis' contemporary and onetime rock-and-roll rival, was arrested at about 3 a.m. Outside Graceland, after he drove up to the gates in his Lincoln Continental Mark IV and demanded to see Elvis, while "screaming and yelling and waving a Derringer in the air" (according to the testimony of a guard at the gates, as quoted in The Commercial  Appeal). Police confirmed that the Killer's "two-shot .38 caliber Derringer" was loaded (as, apparently, was Lewis).

According to VF, they quartered at the property’s official hotel, and after the tourists left for the day, they would descend upon the main grounds to drive golf carts and hang out. Keough also revealed, “There were a few times that we slept [at Graceland],” though she thought twice about making that detail public (“…but I don’t know if I should say that”), as the second floor of the property is off-limits. Family members continued to live at Graceland after Elvis' death, including Vernon Presley, who died  in 1979, and Minnie Mae Presley, who died in 1980. During this time, the Graceland kitchen and bedroom frequented by Delta remained off-limits to tourists; the rooms were added to the tour after her death. In May 2023, Riley and Priscilla reached a settlement over that dispute.

With inflation, that price tag is the equivalent of more than $1 million today. The same year, the King of Rock 'n' Roll skyrocketed to superstardom, making historic network television appearances, giving record-breaking live performances, and receiving armloads of gold records. The last member of the Presley family to occupy Graceland mansion was Elvis’ aunt Delta, who died in 1993.

Born into the spotlight, Presley split her youth between Graceland and Los Angeles after her parents — Elvis and Priscilla Presley — divorced. According to the terms of her father’s will, Lisa Marie became the sole inheritor of Graceland and the rest of the “Hound Dog” singer’s estate, but her inheritance was held in a trust until she turned 25. Presley is survived by her three daughters, actor Riley Keough and twins Harper and Finley Lockwood, from two different ex-husbands. Her stake in the estate, though diminished after past deals, is still sizable; in addition to Graceland, she retained ownership of her father’s costumes, cars, awards and other possessions, according to the mansion’s website. From its 1982 public opening through May 2022, Graceland has attracted just under 23 million visitors, according to figures supplied by Graceland.

In August, a Los Angeles judge approved Riley Keough as the sole heir of her late mother’s estate, also making her the owner of Graceland. The Daisy Jones and the Six actress' grandfather Elvis Presley purchased the iconic home in 1957 for $100,000 at age 22, and her grandmother Priscilla moved into the iconic property in 1963 at age 18. She married Elvis four years later, after meeting when she was 14 and he was 24.

Lisa Marie took complete ownership of the home when she turned 25 in February 1993. Graceland will also serve as the location for Lisa Marie's final resting place, a rep for Riley confirmed to E! She will be buried alongside her father and her son, Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in 2020 at age 27. Elvis Presley was just 22 years old when he bought his Graceland home in Memphis, Tenn., on March, 25, 1957. The singer paid $102,500 for the property, which already had its famous moniker.

Following Elvis' death in 1977 at the age of 42 and his father Vernon Presley's passing in 1982, Priscilla made a similar decision to open Graceland to the public, turning the property into a destination for fans of the King of Rock 'N' Roll. The 14-acre grounds serve as the final resting place for Elvis, who died of a heart attack at his beloved home, his parents Vernon and Gladys Presley, and Lisa Marie's son Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in 2020 at age 27. Keough and her family would visit Graceland over Thanksgiving, but they did not stay at the legendary mansion.