By the late 1990s, Lisa Marie Presley started breaking out as an artist and showed off her vocals in a posthumous duet with her father, Elvis (1935-1977), as a tribute to him 20 years after his death. Over the next two decades, Lisa Marie would continue the tradition of releasing more of these duets to commemorate her late father.
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“I just started this little tradition where I did ‘In the Ghetto‘ and five years later I did ‘I Love You Because,’” shared Lisa Marie in 2013. “It was a tradition for the fans. It’s all for the fans. We always gather in Memphis every five years. I’m always there, so I try to do something for them.”
Throughout her own music career, Lisa Marie, who died on Jan. 12, 2023 at the age of 54, released three albums, from her 2003 debut To Whom It May Concern and follow up Now What in 2005, through her third and final album Storm & Grace, released in 2012.
On Jan. 8, 2023, just days before her death, Lisa Marie shared one last tribute to her father, greeting fans at Graceland on what would have been his 88th birthday.
“Today, he [Elvis Presley] would have been 88 years old,” she said during the event. “That’s hard to believe. I think that he would be proud.”
In honor of Lisa Marie and the music of her father, here’s a look at four songs originally recorded and released by Elvis that she updated and recorded in his honor from the ’90s to as recently as 2018.
1. “Don’t Cry Daddy” (1997)
Written by Mac Davis
Her first, posthumous duet with her father, Lisa Marie updated Elvis’ 1969 single “Don’t Cry Daddy” in 1997 and presented the video for the song during a tribute concert marking the 20th anniversary of her father’s death. The new version features Lisa Marie’s vocals and new instrumentation added to Elvis’ original vocal.
Elvis originally released his version of “Don’t Cry Daddy,” which follows the story of a son trying to navigate the loss of his mother with his father, as a double A-side single with “Rubberneckin,'” and both tracks reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Today I stumbled from my bed
With thunder crashing in my head
My pillow still wet
From last night’s tears
And as I think of giving up
A voice inside my coffee cup
Kept crying out
Ringing in my ears
Don’t cry, daddy
Daddy, please don’t cry
Daddy, you’ve still got me and little Tommy
And together we’ll find a brand new mommy
Daddy, daddy, please laugh again
Daddy, ride us on your back again
Oh, daddy, please, don’t cry
2. “In the Ghetto” (2007)
Written by Mac Davis
In remembrance of her father on the 30th anniversary of his death, Lisa Marie recorded Elvis’ 1969 hit “In the Ghetto.” Recorded shortly after Hurricane Katrina, all proceeds from the song went directly toward opening a transitional housing facility for homeless families in New Orleans through the Presley Charitable Foundation, which Lisa Marie founded in 2007.
Lisa Marie’s updated version of the song topped iTunes sales and peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart.
“In the Ghetto” was written by Mac Davis, who wrote several big hits for Elvis in the late ‘60s through ‘70s, including “Don’t Cry Daddy,” “A Little Less Conversation” and “Memories.” Released on Elvis’ tenth album From Elvis in Memphis and was his first non-soundtrack album of songs, following the end of his contract with Paramount Pictures. The album hit No. 2 on the country charts and No. 13 on the Billboard 200, while “In the Ghetto” peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 chart.
The song, a narrative on childhood poverty across the globe, was one of Lisa Marie’s all-time favorite songs, among those recorded by her father. “We had two hours to lay down my vocals,” said Presley of recording her vocals for the song. “The next morning, I heard the rough and I’ve never cried when I’ve done anything ever, but I just lost it when I heard it.”
As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
‘Cause if there’s one thing that she don’t need
It is another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto
People, don’t you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me
Are we too blind to see?
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way
3. “I Love You Because” (2012)
Written by Leon Payne
Elvis first recorded “I Love You Because” at Sun Studio in 1954 within the same two-day session he recorded his debut single “That’s All Right, Mama.” Both tracks appeared on his 1956 self-titled debut.
Produced by T-Bone Burnett, Lisa Marie recorded an updated version of “I Love You Because” for the 35th anniversary of her father’s passing, and accompanied it with a video featuring the next generation of Presleys: her four children.
I love you because you understand, dear
Every single thing I try to do
You’re always there to lend a helping hand, dear
I love you most of all, because you’re you
No matter what the world may say about me
I know your love will always see me through
I love you for the way you never doubt me
But most of all I love you, ’cause you’re you
4. “Where No One Stands Alone” (2018)
Written by Mosie Lister
Off the 2018 compilation Where No One Stands Alone, a collection of Elvis Presley’s gospel songs, Lisa Marie added her vocals to her father’s original recording of the title track. Originally written by gospel singer and minister Thomas “Mosie” Lister, Elvis recorded and released his own version of the song on his 1967 album How Great Thou Art.
Released after the 40th anniversary of Elvis’ death, in the video for the updated track, Lisa Marie shares footage of her father performing in addition to rare family photos and home videos.
Once I stood in the night
With my head bowed low
In the darkness as black as could be
And my heart felt alone and I cried, “Oh Lord
Don’t hide your face from me”
Like a king, I may live in a palace so tall
With great riches to call my own
But I don’t know a thing
In this whole wide world
That’s worse than being alone
Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Wonderwall
