Lisa Marie Presley Has Died At 54

Earlier today, Lisa Marie Presley went into cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, CA, and was taken to the hospital. Lisa Marie’s mother, Priscilla Presley, asked for prayers, and I was hoping that she’d pull through. But tragically, Lisa Marie died has died at 54. Priscilla confirmed the news in this statement:

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left u. She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers. At this time there will be no further comment.”

Just two nights ago, Lisa Marie Presley was sitting in the audience at the Golden Globes with her mother to support Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic and Austin Butler’s performance as her father. And on Sunday night, Lisa joined her daughter Riley Keough, Austin, and Baz at an event to commemorate Elvis’ birthday. Lisa Marie spoke to the audience about how proud she was of the movie:

Lisa Marie Presley was joined by daughter Riley Keough on Sunday as #Elvis’ Austin Butler and Baz Luhrmann commemorated Elvis’ birthday in Los Angeles. https://t.co/u7kz0dc7ee pic.twitter.com/HdKWh5KfzF

— Variety (@Variety) January 13, 2023

Elvis and Priscilla Presley were married in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967. Exactly nine months later, Lisa Marie Presley came into the world in Memphis, Tennessee, on February 1, 1968. Lisa was the first and only child of Elvis. Elvis and Priscilla divorced in 1973, and afterward, Lisa Marie moved to Los Angeles with her mom and regularly visited her dad in Memphis. Elvis died in 1977 when Lisa Marie was just nine years old. Lisa Marie and her grandfather, Vernon Presley, and her great-grandmother, Minnie Mae Hood Presley, became the heirs of Elvis’ estate. When Vernon and Minnie died, Lisa Marie became the sole heir of her father’s estate. On her 25th birthday, she inherited the entire estate and Graceland. She sold 85% of her father’s estate, not including Graceland, in 2004.

One year after Elvis’ death, Priscilla married actor Michael Edwards. They were married for six years. In a 2003 interview with Playboy, Lisa Marie called Michael a “sick fuck” and said that “he made his attempts at coming into my room and being inappropriate while drunk.” Being the daughter of one of the most famous men in history, losing her father, and dealing with a creep of a stepfather led to a dark and chaotic adolescence for Lisa Marie. She dropped out of high school and got into drugs. Lisa Marie called it her “destructive phase,” and she did anything she could to piss off her mom. When she was 17, Priscilla sent her to clean up at Scientology’s Celebrity Centre rehab facility. That’s where she met her first husband, musician Danny Keough. They got married in 1988. Lisa Marie gave birth to their first child, Riley Keough, in 1989, and their second, Benjamin Keough, in 1992. They divorced in 1994.

20 days after Lisa Marie became officially single, she and Michael Jackson dropped a WTF on the world and became the definition of random’s favorite couple by eloping. Michael, who was ten years older than Lisa, first met her when she was just seven years old at her father’s concert in Las Vegas. Around the time that Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson got married, the child molestation allegations against him became public. So naturally, many figured that their marriage was a stunt to save his reputation. But Lisa Marie denied the marriage was fake, said that she was in love with him, and also believed that he was “wrongly accused.” And while the memory bin in my brain is rusty and doesn’t hold much, it will forever hold the bizarre memory from September 1994 when Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson opened the MTV VMAs with this moment that probably would have really broke Twitter if Twitter was a thing back then:

Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson got divorced two years later in 1996.

Lisa Marie got engaged in 2000 to singer-songwriter John Oszajca, but she broke it off with him after meeting Nicolas Cage. Lisa Marie and Nicolas Cage were married on August 10, 2022, and he filed for divorce just three months later. Lisa Marie got married for a fourth time in 2006 to musician and producer Michael Lockwood. She gave birth to their twin daughters, Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood, in 2008. Lisa Marie and Michael split in 2016. Their divorce fight got very messy until it was finalized in 2021.

Many expected Lisa Marie Presley to get into music since, you know, her father was Elvis, and she was hesitant at first. She recorded demos in 1992 but didn’t release an album until 2003’s To Whom It May Concern. The album’s first single, Lights Out, was a song that Lisa Marie co-wrote about being Elvis’ daughter. She didn’t want to release it, let alone record it. She said this about the song to The New York Times:

“I just was trying not to be predictable and make reference right off the bat to my heritage,” she told The Times. “My concern was that it would go against everything I’m trying to do now, which is make my own thumbprint.”

She released two more albums: Now What (2005) and Storm & Grace (2012). On Storm & Grace is a song called So Long, which is believed to be her musical “BYE BITCH!” to Scientology. Lisa Marie ended up leaving Scientology in 2014. And in 2007, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of her father’s death, she recorded a “duet” version of In The Ghetto with her father.

Lisa Marie is survived by her mother and her three daughters. Her son, Benjamin, died by suicide in 2020 at 27. Last year, Lisa Marie wrote an essay for National Grief Awareness on grief and dealing with the loss of her son:

Obviously, no parent chooses this road, and thankfully not all parents will have to become a victim to it — and I do mean VICTIM here. I used to hate that word. Now I know why. I’ve dealt with death, grief and loss since the age of 9 years old. I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime and somehow, I’ve made it this far. But this one, the death of my beautiful, beautiful son? The sweetest and most incredible being that I have ever had the privilege of knowing, who made me feel so honored every single day to be his mother? Who was so much like his grandfather on so many levels that he actually scared me? Which made me worry about him even more than I naturally would have? No. Just no … no no no no …

It’s a real choice to keep going, one that I have to make every single day and one that is constantly challenging to say the least … But I keep going for my girls. I keep going because my son made it very clear in his final moments that taking care of his little sisters and looking out for them were on the forefront of his concerns and his mind. He absolutely adored them and they him.

Rest in peace, Lisa Marie Presley.

Pic: Getty Images Entertainment