From a private plane and messy divorce to money woes and Michael Jackson, there's more
to Lisa Marie Presley than just a famous last name.
Here are 13 facts about Elvis' daughter.
Lisa Marie Presley was brought to the Church of Scientology by her mother, Priscilla Presley,
and had been involved in the religion since she was ten.
However, by 2012, following the release of her album, Storm & Grace, there was speculation
that Lisa Marie had parted ways with Scientology.
Speaking to Dame magazine a year later, the star declined to comment on any religious
matters, and the Church of Scientology likewise refused to answer whether Lisa Marie was still
a member.
Still, as noted by the outlet, Storm & Grace appeared to lyrically reference her departure
from the church.
The performer further inferred that her 2010 move to England was decided upon after she'd
realized she was being used and controlled by dishonest people in the U.S. Without giving
any specifics, Presley claimed to the outlet:
In 2023, the Church of Scientology told the New York Post that they had maintained a good
relationship with the star.
Lisa Marie initially had positive things to say about the religion.
​​In 2003, she told the Los Angeles Times that Scientology helped her following the
death of her dad:
Elvis Presley wanted his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, to see snow.
So, he once flew her to Idaho from their Graceland home in Tennessee so that she could experience
winter, according to The Washington Post.
What makes the story even more opulent — and incredibly touching — is that he charted
her there in his private jet affectionately named Lisa Marie.
His jet was major.
It was a ​​Convair 880 plane that seated a crew of four in the cockpit and could transport
28 people.
His entourage was usually smaller than this though, consisting of about eight to ten other passengers.
Elvis bought the decommissioned Delta Airlines jet in 1975 and completely reworked the interior
to suit his taste.
Elvis spent approximately $250,000 on the plane and after all of the refurbishings were
finished, his total was around $600,000, per Express.
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley was following his typical nocturnal routine, playing music
in his home and racquetball with pals.
After playing a round, he returned back inside the house, where nine-year-old Lisa Marie
Presley was just waking up.
They then greeted each other for the last time as Elvis died that afternoon, aged 42.
The first person that his daughter called when she realized that her father was dead
was his ex-girlfriend, Linda Thompson.
She dated Elvis from 1972 until 1976, following his divorce from Priscilla Presley.
Lisa Marie had reportedly formed a close bond with her dad's former girlfriend.
According to Express, the young girl was said to have repeatedly said, "My daddy's dead,"
during the phone call.
Understandably, the experience was a harrowing one.
"So I knew that something was very wrong and I, all the commotion and everything…
and I was a wreck.
I was a mess."
Elvis Presley left the entirety of his estate to nine-year-old Lisa Marie Presley when he
died which, at the time, was worth $5 million, according to the Daily Mail.
Since Lisa Marie wouldn't come into her inheritance until she was 25, it was Elvis' father, Vernon
Presley, who was named executor of the estate.
He was also one of the beneficiaries, along with Lisa Marie and Elvis' grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley.
Once Vernon died, it was her mother, Priscilla Presley, who took control of the estate and
turned it into a fortune, opening Graceland, the family home, to tourists.
The fascination around Elvis became a financial win for Lisa Marie.
By the time she took control of her trust in 1993, it was worth $100 million.
Despite inheriting Elvis Presley's estate, Lisa Marie Presley hit hard financial times.
In 2003, she hired Barry Siegel to manage the estate, however, her inheritance dwindled
under his stewardship.
In 2005, Siegel sold 85% of her share of the Elvis Presley Estate to CKX, the same company
that owned American Idol.
Lisa Marie subsequently lost rights over her father's name and image.
For his part, Siegel claimed the decision was necessary in order to pay off the $20
million worth of debt reportedly accrued by Lisa Marie, according to the Daily Mail.
On the contrary, while she still kept 15% of Elvis' estate, the performer claimed that
this business decision marked the beginning of her financial troubles.
In 2018, Lisa Marie sued her business manager, claiming that he put his financial gains ahead
of her own.
That same year, TMZ reported that Lisa Marie was $16 million dollars in debt, from unpaid
taxes, credit card debt, and legal fees.
Despite these concerns, Lisa Marie always made sure that she owned Graceland, even after
Authentic Brands took control of the Elvis Presley Estate in 2013.
Lisa Marie Presley followed in her father's footsteps with a musical career.
"I've been a huge music lover.
It's always had a huge impact on me.
I want to write, I want to sing.
I want to do the same thing for others."
Things began in 1997, when she released a duet with Elvis Presley, by pairing her vocals
with those of her late father on the track, "Don't Cry Daddy."
She kicked off her solo career six years later with the release of her well-received album,
To Whom It May Concern.
It was followed by two more albums, Now What in 2005, and Storm & Grace in 2012.
While promoting her second album, Lisa Marie spoke with Pop Entertainment about the traditionally
rebellious spirit of musicians and her own anxiety about following down the same path
as her dad.
She told the outlet:
Lisa Marie Presley married musician Danny Keough in October 1988 when she was 20.
According to The Sun, they met in rehab when she was a teenager.
Three years later, they got married at the Celebrity Center International of the Church
of Scientology in southern California.
They welcomed their first child, Danielle Riley Keough, on May 29, 1989.
Their son, Benjamin Storm Presley Keough, joined the family three years later.
The couple divorced in 1994.
However, they remained remarkably close after the split.
Danny was an active member of her band and he served as her best man years later when
she married Michael Lockwood.
The two even lived together as close friends before she died.
In fact, just prior to her death, it was Danny who was said to have performed CPR on her
before paramedics arrived.
Only 20 days after her divorce from Danny Keough was finalized, Lisa Marie Presley and
Michael Jackson announced that they had privately gotten married in the Dominican Republic.
While this marriage came hot on the heels of Lisa Marie's divorce, it also came after
negative publicity for Jackson.
In 1993, Jackson had been accused of sexually assaulting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler.
"These statements about me are totally false."
Jackson denied the allegations but came to a $23 million dollar settlement with Chandler's
family in 1994, according to Us Weekly.
Some who viewed their marriage more cynically saw the nuptials as an attempted PR recovery
for Jackson.
They married in the summer of 1994.
Then came the notoriously awkward moment between the couple in September 1994 at the MTV Video
Music Awards when Jackson passionately kissed her on stage.
According to Us Weekly, the experience reportedly felt staged and uncomfortable for Lisa Marie.
She filed for divorce in 1996.
In 2000, Nicolas Cage walked into a party being held for the punk legend, Johnny Ramone,
and first laid eyes on Lisa Marie Presley.
He told Barbara Walters.
Cage added that they had so much in common that the relationship made sense — while
he hails from Hollywood's Coppola dynasty, she had the specter of Elvis Presley over her.
They married in Hawaii in 2002, but split four months later.
Cage attributed the breakup to a shared stubbornness between the two, telling Walters that they
fell into unhealthy patterns of breaking up and making up.
Lisa Marie Presley married her fourth husband, music producer Michael Lockwood, in January 2006.
In October 2008, they welcomed twin girls, Harper Vivienne Anne and Finley Aaron Love.
"Finley's mommy's girl.
Harper's daddy's girl."
Ten years after their nuptials, Lisa Marie filed for divorce and entered rehab shortly
after, per Us Weekly.
A very contentious custody battle began between the two and for a time, the girls stayed with
their grandmother, Priscilla Presley.
Lockwood and Lisa Marie had bitter disputes about money — he reportedly requested $40,000
a month in child support payments and claimed that his ex-wife had more money than she let on.
However, Lockwood appeared to be grief-stricken over Lisa Marie's death.
Lockwood's lawyer said in a statement,
In July 2020, Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough's son, Benjamin, died by suicide.
Two years later, Lisa Marie wrote an essay about grief for People and how it stays with
a person.
She wrote:
She admitted that she felt guilty about what happened with her son and blamed herself for it.
As a way to cope with their shared, monumental loss, she and her ex-husband, Danny, began
living together again as friends.
Lisa Marie was laid to rest next to Benjamin at Graceland.
Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough's daughter, Riley Keough, has a budding career of her own.
As an actor, she has appeared in a variety of films like Mad Max: Fury Road and The Lodge,
and the TV series, The Terminal List, among several other credits.
Riley is active on social media, sharing about her own projects but also those affiliated
with her famous family.
On Instagram in June 2022, she posted a photo of Austin Butler, who played Elvis Presley
in the Baz Luhrmann production Elvis.
Sharing how he had visited them in Graceland that weekend, she wrote,
Lisa Marie Presley was all about Baz Luhrmann's production of Elvis.
At the Golden Globes pre-party on January 8, 2023, she told audiences that the film
would have had Elvis Presley's stamp of approval.
She said, according to People:
On ABC 7's Exclusively Elvis: A Special Edition of 20/20, Lisa Marie told Chris Connelly that
watching Elvis was extremely emotional for her.
While she stated that the film resurfaced several generations of trauma for her, she
clarified that the experience was a positive one.
She also admitted that her daughter, Riley Keough, began crying five minutes into the
movie, which prompted Lisa Marie to start crying too.