More than 40 years after they parted ways, actress Linda Thompson paid a sweet tribute to her former boyfriend Elvis Presley on Instagram. The actress and songwriter dated the King of Rock and Roll for four years after they met at a private movie screening in 1972.
A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner, and Songs in Between
A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner, and Songs in Between
Thompson, best known then as a pageant queen, immediately hit it off with the hitmaker 15 years her senior. "I had no designs on him," she said of their meeting. "I was very cordial as Miss Tennessee, (with the) beauty queen smile fixed on my face." Even then, Elvis changed seats so he could sit next to her and things quickly grew from there.
The 68-year-old's post on "Fabulous Flashback Friday" showed the couple boarding one of Elvis's private planes — the Lisa Marie — one of "hundreds of times." The Convair 880 included a conference room, master bedroom, and gold-plated bathroom fixtures, according to a 2015 auction listing.
The legend named the jet after his only daughter with Priscilla Presley, but it also went by the nickname "Flying Graceland," Rolling Stone reported. It currently remains on display at the actual Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, along with his other custom airplane, the Hound Dog II.
Thompson also quoted lyrics from Led Zeppelin's 1971 song "Stairway to Heaven" in her caption — fitting for a picture of them climbing the airstairs, no?
Ultimately, Elvis's extramarital affairs and drug abuse issues made Thompson realize that the couple would never have a "normal" life, leading them to split at the end of 1976. "I did not break up with him because I didn't love him anymore," she wrote in her 2016 memoir. "I'll probably love him till the day I die. In fact, I'm sure I will. There's always a place in my heart for him. But I wanted more for my life. I wanted to be a mother."
Less than a year later, Elvis's health problems contributed to his early death at the age of 42. Thompson would find a new love with Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner, now known as Caitlyn Jenner. They had two sons together — Brandon and Brody — before separating in 1986.
Thompson recently looked back at her relationships with these two extremely famous people in her book, A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner, and Songs in Between. The title "is taken from a lyric in a song I wrote about 15 years ago for Aaron Neville," Thompson explained. "It's kind of my philosophy of life. It's just the continuum of life. Continuum and trusting life to unfold as it was meant to. And seeing glory and beauty. Every day is a miracle for me. I believe that to be true."
