Lisa Marie Presley (February 1, 1968 – January 12, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter.
She was Elvis Presley’s only child and the sole heir to her father’s estate after her grandfather and great-grandmother passed away. She was also the only child of Priscilla Presley, an actress. Lisa Marie Presley released three albums during her career in the music industry, 2003’s “To Whom It May Concern”, 2005’s “Now What”, and 2012’s “Storm & Grace”. She also released singles that were not included in an album, some of these singles featured Lisa Marie Presley performing duets with her father Elvis on tracks that he had released prior to his death.
Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968, nine months to the day after her parents’ wedding in Memphis, Tennessee. She lived with her mother in Los Angeles after her parents divorced, and she frequently stayed with her father at Graceland in Memphis.
When Lisa Marie Presley was four years old, her parents got divorced and at nine years old, was named joint heir to her father’s estate when he died on August 16, 1977, along with Vernon Presley, her 59-year-old grandfather, and Minnie Mae, Vernon’s 87-year-old mother. She became the sole heir after her grandfather passed away in 1979 and her great-grandmother passed away in 1980, and she received the estate, which had grown to an estimated $100 million, on her 25th birthday in 1993. In 2004, Presley sold 85% of her father’s estate.
She saw Queen at The Forum in Inglewood, California, about a year or two after her father’s death, and after the show, she showed her appreciation for theatrics by giving Freddie Mercury a scarf that had belonged to her father.
Her mother, Priscilla Presley, started dating Michael Edwards, an actor, shortly after her father’s death, and when Lisa Marie was a teen, Edwards is said to have sexually abused her. Presley stated in an interview with Playboy in 2003 that Edwards would enter her room drunk and was inappropriate with her.
In 1997, Lisa Marie Presley performed “Don’t Cry Daddy” in a video as a tribute to her late father. On August 16, 1997, this video was shown at the concert that commemorated the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. Elvis’ original vocals are featured in the video, along with new instrumentation and Lisa Marie’s vocals.
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On June 24, 2011, Lia Marie Presley was officially honored by the Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, who proclaimed a day of recognition for her charitable efforts, and 2 days later, she was issued a Certificate of Proclamation by the Mayor of New Orleans, Mitchell J. Landrieu, in recognition of her dedication and contributions to the city.
A proclamation received from the City of Memphis on June 28, 2011, stated “Lisa Marie Presley is a humanitarian and philanthropist who continues to focus her efforts on the hometown she knows and loves, Memphis. Through her efforts and time she has improved homelessness, literacy, and raised funds for local charities and organizations. She raises awareness for Memphis and continues to set an example of what one person can do when they put their mind to it. Now, therefore, I, A.C. Wharton, Jr., Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, do hereby recognize the lifelong service of this illustrious humanitarian and philanthropist.”
Lisa Marie Presley and her family lived in San Francisco, but between 2010 and 2016 they lived in a 15th-century manor house in Rotherfield, East Sussex, England, 15 miles east of Saint Hill Manor, the British headquarters of the Church of Scientology.
Presley left the Church of Scientology in 2014, though she had been experiencing growing discontent with the organization as far back as 2008.
On October 3, 1988, Lisa Marie Presley married musician Danny Keough, who was born in Chicago. They had two children together, a daughter, Riley Keough, who was born on May 29, 1989, and a son, Benjamin Storm Keough, who was born on October 21, 1992 and died on July 12, 2020. On May 6, 1994, Presley got a quicky divorce in the Dominican Republic. Benjamin Keough died on July 12, 2020, at the age of 27 in Calabasas, California, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office listed his death as a suicide.
Lisa Marie Presley got married to singer Michael Jackson twenty days after she got divorced from Keough. When Presley was seven years old she had attended a number of Michaels concerts in Las Vegas, and they became friends, their adult friendship later began in November 1992 in L.A. Michael Jackson came to rely on Presley for emotional support as the allegations of child molesting became public. She was worried about his declining health and drug abuse. Lisa Marie Presley said “I believed he did nothing wrong, that he was wrongly accused, and, yes, I started falling in love with him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it.”
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Lisa Marie tried to convince Jackson to settle the allegations outside of court and enter rehabilitation to recover shortly after, and he did both.
Wayne Isham directed Lisa Marie Presley’s appearance in Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone” video in June 1995.
According to legal documents, Presley filed for divorce in January 1996, citing irreconcilable differences. Karen Faye, Michael Jackson’s makeup artist, later said that Jackson had initially intended to file for divorce first, but that he had changed his mind after Presley begged him not to. Jackson found out the next day that Presley had filed for divorce herself.
Lisa Marie Presley admitted in an interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey in October 2010 that she had traveled to various parts of the world to be with Jackson and that they had made intermittent attempts to reconcile for four years following their divorce. Presley was said to have “felt shattered” following Jackson’s death in 2009.
In November 1998, Presley proposed to musician John Oszajca, but following her meeting with actor Nicolas Cage at a party, she ended the engagement. Nicolas Cage became Presley’s third husband. Their wedding took place on August 10, 2002 and on November 25, 2002, Cage filed for divorce, which was finalized in 2004.
Danny Keough was Presley’s bass guitarist in 2005, and he also mentored her musically. He remained a close friend of Presley’s, and he lived in the guest house on his property. After Lisa Marie Presley divorced Michael Jackson, Keough and Presley rekindled their friendship. Thomas Keough, Danny’s younger brother, had served as a legal witness at the Lisa Marie’s wedding to Michael Jackson.
On January 22, 2006, Presley married Michael Lockwood, her guitarist, music producer, and director, in Japan, Danny Keough was the best man. Presley announced her pregnancy in March 2008. Her husband had never had a child before. At Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California, on October 7, 2008, Presley gave birth via Caesarean section to fraternal twin girls named Finley Aaron Love Lockwood and Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood.
After ten years of marriage, Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Lockwood in 2016. The divorce was finalized in 2021.
Lisa Marie Presley suffered a cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, California on January 12, 2023. Her heart was restarted after cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered en route to a hospital in Los Angeles, but she died later that day at the age of 54. Presley will be buried in Graceland with her father Elvis and son Benjamin.
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