Lisa Marie Presley on Elvis, Graceland and Michael Jackson

And I was talking about your father's appearance here 46 years ago in this theater.

That's amazing, isn't it? It's very intimidating. Yeah.

Have you ever been in the Ed Sullivan Theater? I haven't. This is the first time.

Mm-hmm. It's very endearing. I did sound check earlier.

It's really nice. And, and you must have seen, of course, the footage of, of your father's performance that night. Yes.

And a- that's when they had that silly thing about they couldn't shoot him from the waist down. Right.

Do you remember any discussion of that later in his life around the house?

Did that ever come up again? Did you ever hear any of that?

No. No. No, I think by then he had it figured out pretty well.

Yeah, I think he did have it figured out.

And, uh, like I was talking to Paul earlier, uh, in your own career, in your own life, what have you learned from your father?

What, what is an important lesson from your father that you carry with you every day?

Um, I can't say the word I'm thinking, but, um- No, no, go ahead. Say it. Balls.

I'm sorry? Balls.

I see.

And, and in, in what context? You mean just to be a little tougher, a little braver?

You know, he's, you know, broke through so many different, um, you know, that- Oh, oh, just speaking of your father.

Yes. He, and then I somehow grew them somewhere along the line.

No.

Oh.

I did not know that. I was not aware. And you wonder why I got nervous.

Now. Now you start to understand. Uh, um, a- and what about, uh, his music?

What, what songs, what era, what, uh, what is, what is your favorite song of his?

I'm sort of prone to the, like, post-'70s thing, uh, music.

And, and those songs would be, what are we talking about?

You know, like, um, Kentucky Rain and In the Ghetto. Mm-hmm. In the Ghetto, yeah.

Older, you know.

Do you, do you still listen to his music? I do. Yeah.

Often, or you? Um, I have to be in a certain mindset, but yeah. Yeah. Have you...

And I guess I know the answer to this. But you must have been back to Graceland, uh, several times, uh, since you lived there, right?

Yeah, I go back two or three times a year.

Now, what is that experience like for you when you go back into this house and, and it's not really, it's identical, but it's not really the same, is it?

It can't possibly be the same. No, it is. It's not been touched.

Uh, particularly the upstairs. It's, it's, it's kind of capsulized.

Yeah, but I mean emotionally it can't be the same as it was when you were living there. No, no. Yeah.

It's kind of, uh, yeah, it's odd. Yeah. How does it make you feel when you go there?

It, uh, depends. Sad, you know, that type thing. Oh, really?

It brings back sad feelings for you? Well, good and bad.

It's sort of a beautiful sadness, I guess you could say. Yeah. Yeah.

Um, and Michael Jackson, you were married to him for how long?

Ah.

What? About two years, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

And, and was, is, was he as strange then as he is now?

Well, first of all, first of all, that's unfair.

Do, do you think he is strange? Um, lately, you know, I have the same opinion I think everyone else has. Right.

And, and what do you think happened there? Did something go wrong?

I, you know, uh, you mean since I was with him?

No, no, just, just, just as a guy. Let's just say that you had nothing to do with him. But just as somebody- Uh, I don't, and I don't mean that the way people think I mean it.

But just as somebody might comment on anybody else's career, what do you think went wrong there in his career and in, i- if in fact something went wrong.

I, I think something has gone wrong. Something, something's gone awry, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

I don't know what. Yeah. Were, were there any signs of it when you and he were married?

Um, there, you know, I left. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I see.

Okay, fair enough. Now tell me about, uh, you have two kids of your own now.

Yes. Uh, well, the older is, uh, 13, you said? 13. Yeah.

Now, when you're raising your kids, do, do you ever remember similar moments when you were a ki- a kid being raised by your family at home, and they bring back memories of, uh, what would your father do?

And do you, you ever have, uh, m- moments like that where you need that advice or that memory?

Um, nothing worked on me particularly. Really? No.

And nothing's working on my daughter, so it's- So there, she, she's very much like you were then. Yes. Yeah.

She- She's headed there. She's a little more together than I was- Yeah ... somehow.

And, and what do you remember about your dad as your father?

What memories do you have of, of him as just a guy?

Oh, I have a lot of them. Mm-hmm. I don't usually go into them 'cause I don't really like...

It, it's odd for me to talk about that when I'm- Right ... you know.

Uh, something has gotta be left to mine somewhere. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that's, well, that's right, and I respect that, but you would be one of a handful of people that know, uh, things that nobody else would ever have a way of knowing about your father. Mm-hmm. And you wanna keep it that way.

Mm. Yeah, I understand. Yeah. Yeah. And, and what, what do you and your family do for fun when you wanna go to...

Uh, I guess you go on vacation and stuff.

What kind of things do you do? I, you know, go to Hawaii, travel, things like that. Right. Just normal stuff?

You're very good-looking in person.

Oh, well, that's very nice of you to say.

And I, I think you couldn't be lovelier.

My God, you're- Thank you ... what an attractive woman.

Thank you.

What do you think, Paul? How's it going? Swingingly, Dave.

Yeah. Swingingly. Um, and in a minute you're gonna sing for us. Are you- Oh, God ... are you excited about that?

Um, yeah.

Well, this is, this is only my third, fourth time in front of a crowd, so- Really?

And it's of course, you know, on national television. Yeah. So I mean...

And, uh, how do you like performing before a live audience?

If you've only done it three times, it's exhilarating, isn't it?

It's a, a little nerve-wracking right now, just because of the curiosity factor and the speculation and nerves- Right ... thing is, I can feel it, so I have to sort of...

I need to get my feet wet. They're sort of throwing the baby out with the bath water with me, right? Yeah.

But I, I think, I think you'll do very well here tonight, because these people are great. They're very supportive, and they like you.

Yes, you can see that. They, they've taken a very nice-

Well- Thank you ... it's a real thrill to meet you. It's a thrill, really. It, it really, really is.

I'm happy-