It's no secret that Lisa Marie Presley struggled with addiction throughout her life. Now,
as the world mourns the singer's tragic passing,
Presley's struggles with addiction are coming into sharper focus.
The world was stunned by the sudden death of Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of
Elvis and Priscilla Presley. On January 12, 2023, just two days after she attended the
Golden Globe Awards with her mother, Lisa Marie was taken to a nearby hospital after
suffering from a cardiac arrest. However, just hours after news of her hospitalization broke,
Priscilla announced her daughter's death in a heartbreaking statement to People, writing,
Despite being the only child of a global icon, it's no secret that Lisa Marie led a troubled life
and struggled with addiction. Presley's lifelong battle with addiction started devastatingly young.
According to the Daily Mail, Elvis Presley's only daughter
began experimenting with drugs when she was just 13 years old. Lisa Marie continued to
struggle for years afterward. As she confessed to Paper magazine in 2003,
Following a years-long binge, Lisa Marie decided to join the Church of Scientology to seek guidance
and, crucially, to get sober. She was drug-free by the time she turned 18. But, after years of
staying on track, Lisa Marie sadly began her descent back into drug addiction in 2008,
shortly after giving birth to her twins Harper and Finley with ex-husband Michael
Lockwood. She shared her experience in a foreword for Harry Nelson's 2015 book
The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain, writing,
Although Lisa Marie Presley struggled with drugs and alcohol for most of her life, it was during
her marriage to her ex-husband Michael Lockwood that the singer's addiction reached its peak.
In a deposition amid their bitter split, Lisa Marie admitted to "abusing cocaine terribly,"
during the final three years of their union. According to RadarOnline, Presley also revealed:
In a 2018 interview with Today, the singer said she'd come a long way in her journey to sobriety,
crediting her four children and her late father, Elvis Presley,
for helping her get through some of her darkest times. Lisa Marie confirmed:
"I am proud. I really did come a long way."
Perhaps the silver lining of Lisa Marie Presley's struggle
with unhealthy substance abuse was that she became highly sensitive to similar issues
in others. That played an important role in one of Presley's more famous relationships:
Her short-lived marriage to Michael Jackson. Jackson also struggled with substance abuse
problems, and according to Presley, his issues were a catalyst that ended their marriage.
Following Jackson's death, Presley gave an extensive interview with
Oprah Winfrey in which she spoke in depth about Jackson's problems and
the dissolution of their marriage. Presley claimed that she became aware of Jackson's
addiction shortly before she filed for divorce, but before calling it quits,
she gave him an ultimatum. In the Oprah interview, Presley said she told Jackson:
"Was it the drugs and sort of vampires, or me?"
Presley added that, ultimately,
Jackson wasn't ready to get sober at that time. Presley noted to Oprah:
According to Express, after finding out about Jackson's death,
Presley reflected on their relationship and stated,