Elvis' last girlfriend is coming to Liverpool for the first time to share memories of their life

Ginger Alden was Elvis’ fiancée when he died in 1977. Despite the clamour for stories about the King of Rock and Roll after his death, she didn’t speak about him for 38 years.

It wasn’t until a decade ago that she decided to finally set the record straight and give her own personal account of their life and love story.

Now Ginger is coming to the British Music Experience on Liverpool’s waterfront for a Q&A evening on Monday June 2, revealing what it was like to be at Elvis’ side during his last few months.

It will be her first visit to the city, on the invitation of the Liverpool Elvis Presley Fan Club.

Neil Lancaster, who is branch leader of the fan club, says he saw Ginger at an event last year and felt Liverpool fans would like to hear things from her perspective.

He explains:

“Elvis died nearly 48 years ago and Ginger was 21 at the time. She was only with him for 10 months but she had a lot of experiences in that time.

“He was going through quite a difficult period and historians say he was always drugged up, but Ginger says although it was like that on occasion, it was mostly a happy time so she shapes things in a different way.

“Unlike everybody else who, once he passed away, jumped on the bandwagon with books and stories, she actually didn’t say anything for 38 years.

“She created a new life for herself, got married and had a son but unfortunately her second husband died on August 16, the same date as Elvis. When her husband died there were so many stories going around that weren’t true, she felt she had to answer those and she had time on her side to do it then.

“That was when she brought out her book, Elvis & Ginger.”

Although they didn’t have a long relationship, it was a case of love at first sight for the legendary singer.

“He was with another lady called Linda Thompson at the time they met,” says Neil. “He was having an event at his house Graceland and one of his guys invited Miss Tennessee. She asked if she could bring her sister along too, that was Ginger, and Elvis took a shine to her.

“She didn’t live in Graceland when they were together, she lived with her parents in Memphis, but she stayed there often and went on the road with him when he was touring the US. She was on his final tour.”

Neil says while interest in Elvis has remained huge over the decades since his death, it grew even further with the release of Baz Luhrmann’s film biopic starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.

“I always want to get young people to listen to what Elvis did, for them to reinvigorate that type of rock and roll style, and I think that’s what the film did,” he adds. “The amount of Presley product out there at the moment, particularly with the growth of vinyl again, is massive.”

In fact there’s a scene towards the end of the movie which features Ginger.

“Elvis is playing the piano and singing Unchained Melody, he hits a note and turns around and smiles and he’s actually smiling at Ginger.”

As the last person to be close to him, Ginger is able to offer an exclusive personal look into his world and legacy, as well as sharing stories even diehard fans might be unaware of.

“I’ve heard her talking before and she has a great deal of humility,” says Neil. “I’ve spoken to lots of people who only know about Priscilla, none of the other women in Elvis’ life, but Ginger was the last one and she had the big diamond engagement ring.”

Find out more information about An Evening with Ginger Alden on the British Music Experience website.

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