Every music fan from a certain era had an opinion in the great debate. Elvis or the Beatles? As it turns out, even Elvis’s own daughter picked a side, and she picked it young.
Lisa Marie Presley grew up as the King’s little girl. When she was small, there was one band she flat out refused to like. Not because of their music. Because of her dad.
She explained it herself years later, in a first-person piece she wrote in 2014. Her reason was about as sweet and loyal as it gets for a daughter who adored her father.
Before the answer, here’s a look back at the famous night the two music worlds crossed paths. Priscilla tells the story of a meeting fans still talk about.
Priscilla recalls the night Elvis met the Beatles
So which band did little Lisa Marie refuse to like? It was the Beatles, the biggest band in the world at the time. In her own words, “I always thought of the Beatles as competition for my father, so when I was younger I didn’t like them.” She tucked a laugh in there, then added, “I always felt protective of Dad.”
That’s the whole reason. In her young mind, the Beatles were the rivals, the other act trying to take her father’s crown. So she decided she just wasn’t going to be a fan. A little girl standing guard over the King. You can’t help but smile at that.
But the story has a happy ending for Beatles lovers. Lisa Marie didn’t hold the grudge forever. She came right out and said so in that same piece. “I don’t hate them anymore, by the way!” she wrote. And then she named the one member who had won her over completely: “And I love John Lennon.”
So the daughter who once saw the Beatles as the enemy grew up to love one of them after all. It’s a small, funny turn that fits her perfectly. Loyal to her dad as a child, and big-hearted enough to come around later.
For fans who lived through the Elvis-versus-Beatles years, Lisa Marie’s take lands just right. She wasn’t weighing records or sales. She was a daughter who loved her father and wanted to protect him, even from four lads from Liverpool. And when she finally let her guard down, she did it with a grin.
Watch Priscilla above as she remembers the night Elvis and the Beatles finally met, and the mark it left on everyone in the room.