Only child of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, singer Lisa Marie Presley spent her entire life in the spotlight.
And the public interest in her life – from her marriages to the tragedies that marked her – never waned until, like her father, she was taken too soon.
Lisa Marie Presley died on Thursday (13) after apparently suffering a cardiac arrest. She was 54 years old.
“Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie,” said a family statement provided to CNN. “They are deeply grateful for the support, love, and prayers from everyone and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”
Days before her hospitalization, Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley attended the Golden Globes to cheer for Baz Luhrmann’s film “Elvis,” starring actor Austin Butler, who won an award for his portrayal of the king of rock.Childhood in the Spotlight
Born at the height of Elvis’s fame in 1968, Lisa Marie Presley was seen as the princess of the man celebrated as “the king of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Elvis and Priscilla Presley separated in 1972 when Lisa was four years old. Five years later, when she was just nine, her father died at the age of 42.
Soon, she began to experiment with drugs, leading her mother to send her to a series of private schools, including a boarding school. Lisa told the Los Angeles Times in 2003 that as a child, she “was kind of lonely, a melancholic and strange child.”
“I had a real self-destructive way for a while,” she told the publication. “I never fit in at school. I really had no direction.Her Own Mark in Music
She was also the sole heir to Elvis’s estate. However, her father’s powerful legacy did not deter her from her desire to pursue a music career.
She launched her career in 2003 with her debut studio album, “To Whom It May Concern,” which reached number 5 on the Billboard 200 album chart and earned gold certification that summer. She wrote almost all the lyrics for the album and co-wrote all the melodies.
At the time, Lisa told Larry King that she had to “block” feelings of pressure and comparison with her legendary father.
“If I was thinking about it, worrying about it, which I kind of have for a long time, I would never have done what was innate in my heart, in my soul,” she said. “So I had to stop worrying about it; it was very intimidating in a way.”
Also around that time, Lisa reflected on whether her famous name was a hindrance or a help, telling Playboy that she didn’t “ask the tabloids to chase me every week.”
But, she added, she “would never take away any part of who I am or where I came from.”
“I would never want to be part of anything else,” she said. “I am honored and proud of my family and my father.”
This first album was followed by two additional albums, “Now What” in 2005 and “Storm & Grace” in 2012.Marriages to Stars
Lisa was married four times, including to music star Michael Jackson and actor Nicolas Cage.
She also married musician Danny Keough in 1988, with whom she had a daughter, Riley Keough, and son Benjamin Storm Keough.
The couple divorced in May 1994, and about three weeks later, Lisa married Michael Jackson in a ceremony that made headlines around the world.
She commented on Jackson in a 2003 interview with ABC News: “When he wants to latch onto you, when he wants to intrigue or capture you, whatever he wants to do with you, he can.” She added that she “fell into this of, ‘poor, sweet, misunderstood man, I’m going to save him’… I fell in love with him.”
Their marriage ended in January 1996.
Two years later, she married Nicholas Cage, but was only married to him for three months, from August to November 2002. The divorce was finalized in 2004.
Her fourth marriage came in 2006, to her guitarist, music producer, and director Michael Lockwood. The couple had twins Finley Aaron Love Lockwood and Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood in 2007. They divorced in 2016.The Tragedy of Losing a Child
In 2020, Lisa Marie Presley’s son, Benjamin Keough, died by suicide at the age of 27. Last July, she marked the second anniversary of Keough’s death on Instagram, sharing a photo of their matching foot tattoos.Source: CNN