“I took a business course and wound up working at WMPS radio station in Memphis. That’s where I met TG. He was playing in a band, and we started dating right away.

TG had already met Elvis—they became friends after bumping into each other at a skating rink. Elvis had rented it out and was playing “Swing the Statue” on skates. It was dangerous, but that’s where their friendship started. TG was just a teenager then. Elvis had just gotten big.

When TG and I got married, his band wasn’t cutting it. So he moved into record promotions, first locally and then with Stax record label. Later, he joined RCA. He’d take artists to radio stations, wine and dine them, and travel with them as they played in the South. Elvis was on RCA, and their friendship grew from there.

The first time I went to Graceland, Priscilla was still there. We went out with a few other couples to the Memphian Theater. Elvis would rent it out, choose the reels, and we’d all show up around midnight to watch movies until seven in the morning. Try finding a babysitter for that.

Soon after, we made our first trip to Vegas to see Elvis in February of 1971. He was playing at the International Hotel. Our table was right under the stage. That night, he walked over, shook TG’s hand, then reached down and pulled me up. He kissed me full on the mouth before I even knew what was happening. I remember thinking, Did that just happen? His lips were really soft. That was my moment–that and getting to hear Waylon Jenning later that night and hang out with him afterward.

We went backstage after another Vegas show. You had to go through the kitchen to get there, which I thought was interesting. Elvis was always glad to see people from Memphis. He gave all the women TLC (Tender Loving Care) necklaces and the men TCBs (Taking Care of Business). I still have mine—one of my most treasured pieces of jewelry.

TG’s real name is Bill Browder. When he started recording, he didn’t want it to be a conflict of interest with his job, and he didn’t think it would amount to anything. His office was above a recording studio in Memphis. One day, their singer didn’t show up to cut a demo, so they said, “Go get Browder. He can sing.”

He went down and recorded ‘Devil in the Bottle.’ They liked it and wanted to put it out. He needed a new name and wanted to do initials. We drove around thinking, and he said there was a German Shepherd in the lot next to the recording studio. He was going to be TG Sheppard–The German Sheppard. He used TG Sheppard on the record. 

Elvis heard about the song and sang it at the Memphian one night when TG was with him. He looked at TG and said, ‘I found out.’

TG’s second number one was ‘Trying to Beat the Morning Home.’ He was touring in a Lincoln Town Car with just his guitar player when someone hit them in Chattanooga. Elvis told him, ‘Yeah, I remember traveling like that with my mom and daddy. That’s hard.’

Meanwhile, Elvis was having the Lisa Marie plane redone at Love Field. He was excited about it and asked us to come out to Graceland and go see it. We waited upstairs in his bedroom for his date to arrive, listening to music and talking. He was so handsome, almost perfect-looking. TG was good-looking, too. Elvis talked about numerology on the flight. The Lisa Marie was just a hull with swatches of what it would be. We flew back to Graceland. Elvis told us to come back at 5:00 the next day. He’d called J.D. Sumner with the Stamps Quartet and arranged for him to buy a used tour bus from a gospel group. J.D. drove it to Graceland and gave it to TG. That was TG’s first tour bus—he had the bus before he even had a band.

After ‘Motels and Memories’—his third number one—we moved to Nashville. TG truly became TG Sheppard. It’s funny how you call your husband “Bill” for ten years, and then it’s ‘TG’ for the next ten.

The Christmas after we moved, we went back to Memphis and flew with Elvis on the Lisa Marie. He wanted to show it off. We had been on the plane for a while, and I told TG, ‘This is the smoothest flight I’ve ever been on.’ Elvis heard this, threw his head back, and laughed: he had a deep laugh. He said, ‘We’re still on the ground.’ When we finally took off, he had someone tell me we were taking off. A little later, he sent for us, one by one, to go to his bedroom on the plane. He told me to take my ring off. Then he slipped another one on. I hugged him—didn’t kiss him that time—just thanked him again and again. He gave TG one, too. Everyone on the plane got something. I still have the jewelry he gave me. 

Elvis was a giver. He got such joy out of giving people something they never expected. That’s what made him special.

We were in Memphis the night before Elvis died. TG called over to Graceland. Elvis had a dentist appointment that night and was heading on tour the next day, so we didn’t go. We came back to Nashville, and the next morning we heard. They had found him.

That was the first time I had lost someone my age. It hit me hard.

Things changed when we moved to Nashville. In the early years, TG and I had dated fast and serious. He wasn’t letting go. But later on, I became lesser because of his notoriety. I wasn’t jealous—I knew you couldn’t survive in that world if you were. I met all kinds of people, some famous, some not. I took care of our son and kept things running, including our 30-acre horse farm. 

TG always had nice things to say about me, but we were living almost separate lives—he’d be gone for weeks at a time. He had an affair, and I told him, ‘If you want to fly, go.’ He asked me to let him get it out of his system. But I said, I won’t be all right. He didn’t think I’d leave, but I knew he wouldn’t change, so I divorced him. I don’t resent him, and he’s still a fun guy to be around. Everyone likes him. 

I met Mike in Sunday school about a year after the divorce. The Lord brought us together. We’ve been married 37 years and once lived across from Dolly Parton in Nashville. Mike liked to tell people she was always coming over to borrow sugar.

Now we’re 82; we laugh and say we haven’t always been old. My daughter was determined to get us to Fairhope. She wanted more family time, and that’s why we’re here.

I’ve lived two or three lives. Most parts of them have been good.”

Diana

(Bonus story and pictures in the comments)

Bonus story 

Mike:
“I used to travel all over the place back when I was active. People would ask where I was from, and I’d say Nashville and all that. They’d go, ‘Oh really?’ And I’d say, ‘Yeah, if you ever get on one of those tour buses and make it to Dolly’s house, just step across the street and come see me.’

 They’d laugh, and I’d go on: ‘She’s always coming over, bringing sugar and stuff.’

One day, this car pulls out of her driveway and comes over. It wasn’t Dolly, but it was a pretty good-looking woman. She rings the bell and says, ‘Are you Mike?’ I said yes.

She goes, ‘I’ve got something here Dolly wants you to have.’
And she handed me a five-pound bag of sugar.”

Diana:
“Here’s the backstory.”

Mike:
“She’s gonna ruin my story.”

Diana:
“A cute gal used to help me at a store I liked. I hadn’t seen her in a while. I ran into her one day, and she said she was a personal shopper for Dolly. I told her about Mike’s bragging and asked if there was any way Dolly could really get her to do it. She said Dolly would love it, and we worked it out.

The doorbell rang. Mike opened the door, and the girl said, ‘Dolly wants you to have this.’

I told Mike, ‘Merry Christmas.’”