‘It really hit home:’ Biloxi woman who sang with Elvis reflects on Lisa Marie’s sudden death

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - News of the death of Lisa Marie Presley hits home to a lot of people, especially in Biloxi. As we know, Elvis spent a lot of time down here as his career was taking off. No one knows that more than Martha Ebberman at Burger-Burger on Howard Ave.

“We had a little band and it was pretty good, but I normally sang by myself,” said Ebberman. “My daddy booked me, and whoever was there, that’s who I sang with. I met Elvis for the first time at Jesuit High School. We were on a show together. I didn’t know who Elvis was.”

Back in the days when Ebberman was singing, she was 16-years-old. She says she sang with Elvis at several different venues. Back then, Elvis was just getting his career going.

“I was really surprised when I saw him, and I thought ‘oh wow.’ My dad was a booking agent, and I told him he should book Elvis and dad said ‘that boy isn’t going anywhere,’ and I thought, yes he is,” Ebberman added. “I remember when we sang at Ft. Walton at Eglin Air Force Base, I think that might have been when Elvis bought his first Cadillac. His mother was with him, and I remember him helping her out of that car, and that really impressed me.”

So as you can imagine, anytime there’s news concerning Elvis, whether it be the movie last year or the death of Lisa Marie, Ebberman pays attention.

“When you know somebody like that and you’ve experienced things with him, it really does touch home and it makes your heart sick to know that she had to die young like her father did,” she said. “Knowing Elvis, back in the ‘50′s, it really hit home.”

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