At a Glance
- Priscilla Presley says Elvis would still be touring at 91
- New memoir took 11 months to write and revisits their 14-year relationship
- Book tour has already hit 13 cities across four countries
- Why it matters: Offers rare insight into Elvis’ true passion and their lasting bond
Priscilla Presley believes Elvis would still be on stage today. Speaking to Hello! Magazine while promoting her memoir Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis, the 80-year-old shared her conviction that the King of Rock and Roll would have continued performing if he had lived past 1977.
“He loved it”
“He’d be doing the same thing in life – singing and touring,” Priscilla said. “He loved it.”
Elvis died on August 16, 1977, at age 42. He would have turned 91 on January 8, 2026.
Writing the memoir forced Priscilla to relive decades of memories, both joyful and painful.
“It took me a while to finish it up – more than 11 months,” she explained. “You remember a lot of things, and it was a good thing, to be honest. A lot of remembering wonderful times and difficult times – and you’re reliving your life.”
Marriage, divorce, and friendship
Priscilla and Elvis met in 1959 at a U.S. military base in Germany where both their fathers were stationed. They married on May 1, 1967, and divorced six years later in 1973. Despite the split, they stayed close.
“We always remained friendly and would still get together,” she recalled. “Of course, we had our daughter [the late Lisa Marie Presley], and I would bring her to see her dad perform and made sure they spent a lot of time together. She’d spent extensive time with him at Graceland.”
Priscilla emphasized their enduring affection: “We still cared for each other. He just had a great sense of humor and [was] fun to be with.”
Global book tour
Since the memoir’s release, Priscilla has traveled to:
- Europe: London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris
- North America: New York
- Oceania: Christchurch, Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney
She plans to continue touring through 2026.
“I love doing it, talking about all this, sharing, and of course answering all their questions,” she said. “I get some good questions!”
One fan asked whether Elvis wore a toupee. Priscilla laughed: “No, that’s not true; that was his beautiful hair.”
The day the music stopped
Priscilla has spoken before about the shock of Elvis’ death. During a 2018 appearance on Today, she described leaving Graceland for his Memphis funeral.
“I was still shocked. It was just too hard to believe,” she said. “Going out the gates in the limo and seeing the streets lined up on both sides all the way to the cemetery… You’d see people crying, hysterical, fainting, and that’s how impactful it was and still to this day. People come around the same time and they’re all there.”
Key takeaways
- Elvis’ passion for performing would have kept him on tour at 91, according to the person who knew him best
- Priscilla’s memoir revisits their 14-year relationship and its aftermath
- The ongoing book tour shows enduring global fascination with the Presley legacy
