Guns N' Roses Axl Rose opens up on friendship with Lisa Marie Presley

18 January 2023, 11:06 | Updated: 15 February 2023, 23:23

The Guns N' Roses singer has paid tribute to his friend and the only child of Elvis Presley, who sadly died on 12th January.

Axl Rose has paid tribute to Lisa Marie Presley and opened up about their friendship.

The daughter of Elvis Presley sadly died on 12th January, aged 54, and the Guns N'Roses frontman has spoken out about the loss of his friend.

"I will miss my friend Lisa. Her passing, just as her son's, or as a kid, her father's, doesn't seem real," he told People magazine. "Lisa loved her family, all her children. My heart goes out to them."

The 60-year-old rocker went on to say that her son's recent passing in 2020 was "devastating" for her and he tried to provide her for some support.

"Her son's passing was shocking, tragic and devastating, explained the Sweet Child Of Mine singer."It was something that, at a point, you obviously didn't want to bring up but awkwardly would in an effort to let her know you cared and were thinking about her, about them, and to be of any comfort one could, which she appreciated."

He added" "I wanted her to be happy, to feel good about things, at least as much as one could under the circumstances. And really, with the closeness of their relationship, one could hope — but truthfully, it didn't seem, at least without some real time passing, a reasonable reality".

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The rocker also revealed that Presley would share stories with him about her father Elvis backstage at his shows.

"I was fortunate enough to hear about her father and her experiences and memories with him first hand. She came to shows and we hung out backstage," said Rose. "It was always great to see her and she was always fun n' super supportive."

Rose also talked about the recent Elvis biopic, which he revealed Lisa Marie was "very proud of".

"Over the last few months we spoke a lot about the Elvis movie which she was very proud of, and especially that it touched on her father's love since early childhood of black gospel, and later, the blues," he says. "She was very nervous at first of how the public would react to the film because it was so important to her to do right by her father."

Reflecting on his own beliefs on the afterlife, the Paradise City Rocker also said: "What comes after life who knows but I'd like to think they're together, her and Ben with her father and Ben's grandfather in some way, and Lisa, and the most important men in her life are happy together."

Axl Rose took to Twitter after the news of Lisa Marie's death, writing: "Rest in peace my friend".

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It has since been reported that the cause of death of Lisa Marie Presley has been deferred.

Sarah Ardalani, spokesperson with the LA County Dept. of Medical Examiner-Coroner told CNN: "Presley was examined on Jan. 14 and the cause of death was deferred. Deferred means that after an autopsy, a cause of death has not been determined and the medical examiner is requesting more investigation into the death, including additional studies. Once the tests/studies come back, the doctor evaluates the case again and makes the cause of death determination"

Presley is survived by her mother Priscilla (77), and her three daughters Riley (33), and twins Harper and Finley (14).

Her son Benjamin Keough - who she shared with Danny Keough - tragically took his own life at the age of 27.

Elvis died when she was 9 years old and she followed in his footsteps, picking up an interest in music and working hard to continue his legacy.

She most recently attended the Golden Globes on Tuesday 10th January, where she witnessed with her mother actor Austin Butler win the award for his portrayal of The King in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis.

Lisa Marie Presley is set to be buried at Graceland, the mansion she inherited from her father.

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