What does it say about your life if marrying Nicolas Cage isn't the craziest thing that
ever happened to you? From growing up in Graceland to leaving Scientology,
stay tuned to see the stunning transformation of Lisa Marie Presley.
When Priscilla Presley got pregnant at 21, she was worried about becoming a mom at such a young age.
Elvis Presley, who had been at the height of his fame during the 1950s, saw his career declining
a decade later, and was concerned about how his fans would react to him becoming a father.
The couple's marriage was already under stress: Priscilla wrote about the challenging period in
her book "Elvis and Me," and revealed that she had even considered terminating the pregnancy.
Having decided to go through with the pregnancy, Priscilla gave birth to Lisa Marie exactly nine
months after she and Elvis were married. Priscilla was immediately transformed upon seeing her
newborn. In an interview with The Guardian, she described her feelings at the time by saying -
"My God, this is a product of Elvis and me and I'm going to be there for her."
With her parents separated since about the time she was 4, Lisa Marie Presley would
spend the next several years shuttling back and forth between her mom's home in Beverly Hills
and Graceland, where her father remained. During an interview on "The Talk,"
Lisa Marie shared several intimate details about life with her father. She described
her mom's parenting style as very strict, and her father's style being exactly the opposite.
Presley recalls her childhood at Graceland very fondly: she told television host Ross
King that the upper private rooms are where she feels most safe and calm.
Because her dad worked at night and had a habit of sleeping a lot during the day,
she often did the same, but would sometimes wake before he did.
Unsupervised, Lisa Marie had the run of Graceland and took full advantage of her position.
"There was no schedule, there was no time at Graceland. No rules.
It was almost like this funhouse."
She also told King that, after touring an exhibit about her own life, she noticed a quote from her
father that she'd never heard before, that really touched her. According to Lisa Marie, it read -
"Becoming a father is the best thing that ever happened to me."
Elvis Presley would die tragically during one of Lisa Marie Presley's visits to Graceland,
and she vividly remembers the last interaction she had with her father. According to Radaronline,
she was wandering around very early in the morning when they encountered each other, and he gave her
a kiss before sending her back to her bed. Later that morning, he was discovered deceased in his
bathroom by his fiancée Ginger Alden. Lisa Marie says that she saw him there as well, saying -
"His body was in the house for three days and there was something very
oddly comforting about that, which made it not necessarily real to me."
In her book "Elvis and Me," Priscilla Presley recalls arriving at Graceland and telling a
confused Lisa Marie that her father had indeed passed away. According to Showbiz CheatSheet,
the way Lisa Marie reacted confirmed for Priscilla that the reality of the situation
hadn't yet sunk in for her daughter. Riley Keough, who is Lisa Marie's eldest child,
admitted to Variety that she never played her late grandfather's music
because she witnessed how his singing would evoke grief in her mom and grandmother.
During an interview for the British television show "Lorraine," Lisa Marie
Presley spoke about Elvis Presley's passion for religions of all stripes.
"If you go up to his bedroom there's a little office connected and there's just nothing but
books of every religion."
Following Elvis' death in 1977, Priscilla and Lisa Marie ended up joining The Church of Scientology.
The two were fairly devout members, and Priscilla would take Lisa Marie to the Church as a teenager
when she discovered that she was using drugs. Lisa Marie would remain active
in the Church for more than three decades, and according to People,
she met her first husband Danny Keough at one of the churches Celebrity Centres.
Presley would go on to have two children with Keough before divorcing six years later.
However, by the time she wed pop star Michael Jackson, she had started feeling differently
about Scientology and becoming less involved. By 2012 she left the religion, saying -
"They were taking my soul, my money, my everything."
It has been suggested that some of the lyrics from her 2012 album
are her sounding off against the religion, including the lyrics -
"I'm a bit transgressive and suppressive as well,
well you ain't seen nothin' yet. Am I a disruption to your corruption? You ain't seen nothin' yet."
Lisa Marie Presley's teenage years were especially trying for both her and her mom. Priscilla had a
hard time overcoming the effects of that behavior once she was solely in charge of raising Lisa
Marie. Priscilla explained that her daughter had a difficult time learning to behave after her
father's indulgent parenting style, but Lisa Marie had a different interpretation. She told Express:
"I don't feel like I was spoiled. Anything my father did for me or gave me was done out of love,
and I took it as that. I'm sure I had moments when I was a snot. But my mom
was there to smack me back to the other side. Whatever he did, she cleaned up."
After dropping out of high school, Lisa Marie started dabbling in drugs, and despite Priscilla's
efforts at keeping her daughter safe and grounded, she still rebelled frequently.
At one point, they reportedly had a physical altercation that led to the police being called.
However, the mother-daughter duo was able to poke fun at their tumultuous relationship in
an Oldsmobile commercial they made just as Lisa Marie was entering her twenties.
Given Elvis Presley's mega-stardom, it seemed reasonable to assume Lisa Marie
Presley would've been taken care of financially upon his passing, but that turned out to be far
from certain. For a man that readily indulged all of his young daughter's whims, including
a private jet ride to play in the snow for a few minutes and private amusement park rentals,
Elvis' estate at the time of his death was worth under $5 million. He was also heavily in debt.
The star's lifetime earnings have been estimated to range from $100 million to $1 billion,
but a lifetime of living extravagantly and poor planning left Lisa Marie's financial
future in jeopardy. When Elvis was alive and the coffers were depleted, he simply went on tour,
cut an album, or made another movie — but that earning potential died along with him in 1977.
Fortunately, Priscilla Presley stepped in to manage what was left, and was able to rebuild the
inheritance by turning Graceland into a tourist attraction. By the time Lisa Marie turned 25 and
was eligible to receive the inheritance, it had grown to a value of $100 million.
After six years of marriage and two children, Lisa Marie Presley and husband Danny Keough
were divorced. Presley followed the split with two marriages to unlikely major celebrities.
Just 20 days after her divorce was finalized,
Presley shocked everyone by marrying pop star Michael Jackson.
"Michael Jackson?"
"Oh God…"
"Michael Jackson?"
"I thought you were gonna go here first - I was hoping you forgot."
According to US, the two first met when Presley was a child, but had no further contact until she
was in her twenties and reintroduced by a mutual friend. After spending lots of time on the phone
together, Jackson popped the question during one of their calls and the pair began their less than
two-year-long marriage. According to Oprah.com, she felt that Jackson did love her but she says
she felt manipulated during the relationship, even down to the awkward kiss they shared at
the "MTV Video Awards." Struggles followed for the two, including Jackson's addiction to pain pills,
which eventually led to the demise of their relationship.
Presley met Nicolas Cage in 2000 and embarked on another turbulent romance. They married in 2002,
but he would file for divorce just three months later. During their time together, they went
through several break-ups and make-ups: one spat even resulted in her engagement ring getting
tossed off the side of a boat. Presley summed up their ill-fated romance to Larry King by saying:
"We're sort of these [...], you know, tyrannical pirates. And [when] one
pirate marries another they will sink the ship basically is what it comes down to."
Until her thirties, Lisa Marie Presley and her mom Priscilla had a rocky relationship by all
accounts. Being raised in two homes until she was nine years old exposed her to two wildly
divergent lifestyles. Unsurprisingly, Lisa Marie had trouble adjusting to the stricter
regulations imposed by her mom. As Priscilla described it to Express:
"Lisa had trouble learning what was right and wrong."
According to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, apart from suddenly having to follow the rules all the time,
Lisa Marie started to feel differently about Scientology,
causing some ripples in their relationship. Drug problems, a rebellious nature and
curfew-breaking had Priscilla and her daughter at odds with each other for several years.
Only when she got older did Lisa Marie describe their relationship as very close.
"We are now very close, but when I was younger it was like, difficult to have a
relationship with somebody that's got you like that around the neck all the time."
As Lisa Marie told Oprah in 2005:
"[W]e're so the opposite of each other, if you haven't noticed already. [...] I think
it was just that she's got a china shop and I'm the bull that comes in. I mean,
I'm more abrasive. She's very poised, which is great. And I'm the way I am.
And I think that [we] just couldn't find a way to blend."
Though she has described her famous heritage as both a blessing and a curse,
Presley is more interested in carving out her own space when it comes to her career in music.
Having received both positive and more tepid reviews of her work, Lisa Marie doesn't seem
willing to compromise or give people what they might expect from Elvis' daughter. In fact, it's
the opposite, as Lisa Marie has been insistent on honoring her father while thoughtfully cultivating
her own style. She's aimed to acquire a fan base that appreciates her for her own talents.
The desire to perform has apparently always been there, as Lisa Marie has said that one
of her earliest memories is Elvis catching her singing into her hairbrush as a toddler.
Sadly, though, they were never able to sing together professionally during his lifetime.
That said, on a few occasions, she has sung alongside videos of her father to stunning effect.
Lisa Marie has showcased her vocal talents in duetted versions of "In the Ghetto," "Where No
One Stands Alone," and "Don't Cry Daddy," to name a few. This, to some extent, must appease fans
who are eager to experience what it might have been like if Elvis were still alive. Lisa Marie
refuses to be pigeon-holed or participate in anything she considers contrived, but
works to respect and maintain her father's legacy while creating a unique body of work of her own.
When Lisa Marie Presley, her fourth husband Michael Lockwood,
and their young twin daughters went to England in 2010 to work on her next record,
they ended up staying for several years. After being fed-up with life in Los Angeles,
she decided to start from scratch in the English countryside. She told Express that
she was tired of living life under a microscope and being surrounded by unsavory people, saying -
"I was around the wrong people for a long time, people who have no conscience,
people who are doing the most draconian things and I had no idea about any of it."
Opting to remain in England much longer than she had originally anticipated,
Presley took advantage of a certain level of anonymity that life in a small village provided.
There, she could go unrecognized, enjoy a pint at the local pub,
and wander around without causing a hubbub. After several years abroad, however,
the family eventually pulled up stakes and came back to the United States.
Lisa Marie Presley found herself in the middle of a full-fledged opioid addiction
at the age of 40 following the birth of her twin daughters
Vivienne and Finley. Presley wrote regarding the onset of her addiction:
"It only took a short-term prescription of opioids
in the hospital for me to feel the need to keep taking them."
The seriousness of Lisa Marie's addiction came to light amidst her nasty divorce from Michael
Lockwood. Presley admitted in court documents that she had been using painkillers, opioids,
alcohol and cocaine to the point that she'd sought treatment at several rehab centers in Mexico.
Presley, who had previously been ambivalent about sharing her story, eventually detailed
her struggles in a forward she penned for author Harry Nelson's "The United States of Opioids:
A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain." She called for an end to the shame associated with
addiction, acknowledged those who suffer silently, and urged people to educate themselves about
the dangers of opioid abuse. She credited her children with giving her a purpose to get clean,
and recognized how fortunate she was to have made it through the harrowing episode.
"I've come a long way. I was not happy - and by the way the struggle in addiction for me
started at you know, 45 years old."
Watching drugs contribute to the deaths of her father and Michael Jackson
didn't prevent Lisa Marie Presley from becoming addicted to prescription painkillers herself.
Fortunately, she beat the odds and got past her addiction,
but she's also admitted to engaging in other dangerous habits. For starters,
she smoked cigarettes until she was 39 and really had to commit herself to quitting.
Lisa Marie has worried about dying at a young age like her father,
and remembers fretting about his health. Express reported that she would bring up
her concern to him when she would see him lose his balance. She elaborated -
"There were several times where I'd get worried and
go check on him and find him in these bad states."
Those memories obviously stuck with her, because Lisa Marie says that she tried every fad diet
in the book to lose the extra pounds after her first child was born. Upon reaching the weight
she was as a teenager in 2014, she shared with People what had motivated her, saying -
"Knowing my family history — my father's side is totally not healthy and they have shorter life
spans, while my mom's side is super fit with long life spans — I didn't know where I would land.
So I said, 'Okay. I'm going to play it safe and try to be as healthy as I can be.'"
Lisa Marie Presley has suffered two of the most tragic events a person can experience
in their life: her father's death when she was a young child, and more recently,
the loss of her own child. On July 12, 2020, Presley's only son Benjamin Keough was found
dead from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. During her own birthday party, Keough's
girlfriend Diana Pinto went to check on him and discovered his body. An autopsy revealed that he
had alcohol and cocaine in his system. According to The Sun, Keough had a history of depression,
and had been to rehab several times. Known for spending extended periods alone in his bedroom,
he may have headed there that day after an altercation with Pinto.
A source also told the outlet that Keough's father had rushed to Lisa's side,
and that they were grieving together privately. According to another source who spoke to The Sun,
Ben had been struggling to find his place in the world and had experienced difficulty living
up to the legacy created by his grandfather. Lisa Marie, who was said to be inconsolable,
made a heartbreaking Instagram post dedicated to her son which read in part -
"I worshipped the ground you walked on, on this earth and now in Heaven. My heart and soul went
with you.The depth of the pain is suffocating and bottomless without you every moment of every day."
According to Billboard, Keough is buried at Graceland next to his grandfather
Rather than trying to live up to Elvis Presley's legacy, it might be more appropriate to say that
Lisa Marie Presley is trying to live with it. As she continues to share her father's life and
accomplishments through her work with Graceland, the singer has tried to embrace the gravity of
her legendary name. Producer Glen Ballard, who has worked with many recording artists,
collaborated with Presley on her first album, "To Whom It May Concern,"
which was released in 2003. The producer recalled Presley feeling the weight of her dad's legacy
and the cathartic feelings that accompanied the recording of her professional debut.
Ballard co-wrote Presley's first single, "Lights Out," and shared with Express -
"We had this song […] which I think is always going to be associated with her,
just about the overwhelming burden of being Elvis' daughter."
In an interview with Stina Dabrowski, Presley stated,
"Songwriting is cathartic and therapeutic for me, so I pull from pain. I respond to music where
someone's really sort of purging emotionally. I've been writing to get myself through things."
In her interview for "Lorraine," she summed up her short but meaningful relationship with her father
by saying she knew he really loved her.
"I knew there was a great love there, you know? I knew that there was a really strong connection."
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues,
help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).