Axl Rose Honors Lisa Marie Presley: ‘I’d Like to Think They’re Together — Her and Ben with Her Father’

Guns N’ Roses rocker Axl Rose is remembering his close friend Lisa Marie Presley after her sudden death at age 54.

The “Sweet Child O’ Mine” singer, 62, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive statement that losing Presley still feels surreal.

“I will miss my friend Lisa. Her passing, just as her son’s, or as a kid, her father’s, doesn’t seem real,” he says. “Lisa loved her family, all her children. My heart goes out to them.”

Rose says he knew his friend struggled with the loss of her son, and that he did his best to remind her that he was a pillar of support if needed.

“Her son’s passing was shocking, tragic and devastating. It was something that, at a point, you obviously didn’t want to bring up but awkwardly would in an effort to let her know you cared and were thinking about her, about them, and to be of any comfort one could, which she appreciated,” he says.
The rocker recalls trading “jokes, news articles and lots of animal vids” with Presley in the aftermath of Benjamin’s death in an effort to put a smile on her face, and says he tried to “let her know of the constant thinking about her, them, and wanting the best for her.”
“I wanted her to be happy, to feel good about things, at least as much as one could under the circumstances. And really, with the closeness of their relationship, one could hope — but truthfully, it didn’t seem, at least without some real time passing, a reasonable reality,” he says.

He continues: “What comes after life who knows but I’d like to think they’re together, her and Ben with her father and Ben’s grandfather in some way, and Lisa, and the most important men in her life are happy together.”

Rose says that over his years of friendship with Presley, the pair talked about everything from the music industry and current events to life in general.

“I was fortunate enough to hear about her father and her experiences and memories with him first hand. She came to shows and we hung out backstage,” says Rose. “It was always great to see her and she was always fun n’ super supportive.”
He also recalls recent discussions about Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, which starred Austin Butler as The King.

“Over the last few months we spoke a lot about the Elvis movie which she was very proud of, and especially that it touched on her father’s love since early childhood of black gospel, and later, the blues,” he says. “She was very nervous at first of how the public would react to the film because it was so important to her to do right by her father.”