Axl Rose said that Lisa Maria Presley asked him to play “November Rain” in the event of her death.
The Guns Nā Roses frontman was among a host of musicians who paid tribute to the late singer during her public memorial earlier this week. The memorial service was held on the lawn in front of the Presley family’s Graceland House Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.
Rose began his tribute speech with a eulogy to his late friend. “I know that Lisa loved her family very much and fiercely defended her father and his legacy,” he said. “I never imagined in a million years that I would be singing here under such circumstances.”
Rose then performed a solo piano version of the 1991 Guns N’ Roses song.
After the service, he told Entertainment Tonight, “I really didn’t know what I was going to say or anything like that, and I still feel like I don’t know if I deserve to be here. But I wanted to do the right thing with her, her family and her fans. So it meant a lot, I was very nervous and worried about it. When I wrote this, I was calm, but I didn’t say it.”
Rose went on to say that she actually wanted him to play her in the service.
“Yes, as far as I understand, she really said that the situationā¦ That’s why I was asked to do it. So, of course, I had to be here,” the singer added.
Earlier this month, Rose paid tribute to her friend in a statement after her death, saying that “her passing, just like her son or her father as a child, does not seem real.”
Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, also spoke at the public memorial service for Lisa Maria Presley and quoted the words of Queen Elizabeth II. Other guests at the service included Alanis Morissette and Billy Corgan.
Lisa Maria Presley, Elvis’ only daughter and sole heir to his fortune, died at the age of 54 on January 12 after a cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas.
