Rock and roll royalty. Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, followed in her father’s footsteps by pursuing music.
The Tennessee native released three albums over the course of her career — To Whom It May Concern (2003), Now What (2005) and Storm & Grace (2012) — and paid homage to the King by recording duets using tracks that the “Hound Dog” singer released before his death in 1977.
Lisa — the sole heir to her father’s estate — was only nine when the musical legend passed away. After seeing Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film Elvis, the “Shine” singer said she was “moved to tears.”
“Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father’s heart and soul beautifully,” she wrote via Instagram in May 2022 next to a picture of the biopic’s promotional poster. “In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and FINALLY done accurately and respectfully. (If he doesn’t get an Oscar for this, I will eat my own foot, haha.)”
After suffering loss in her early childhood, the singer-songwriter faced her fair share of struggles in her teen years and into adulthood as well.
“[I used] cocaine, sedatives, pot and drinking — all at the same time. I just couldn’t be sober,” Lisa told Paper Magazine in 2003, recalling her teenage drug use. “I don’t know how I lived through it.”
In 2016, the “Dirty Laundry” musician entered a rehab program for a prescription pill addiction. Three years later, she penned a forward for Harry Nelson’s book, The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation In Pain, opening up about her struggles for the first time.
“I had never openly spoken in public about my own addiction to opioids and painkillers,” Lisa wrote in the March 2019 essay, revealing that she became addicted after being given a short-term prescription while recovering from the birth of her twin daughters, Harper and Finley, in 2008.
The “Lights Out” crooner’s journey as a mother has also been marked by tragedy. In July 2020, her son, Benjamin, whom she shares with ex-husband Danny Keough, died by suicide.
“My beautiful, beautiful angel, I worshipped the ground you walked on, on this earth and now in Heaven. My heart and soul went with you,” the grieving mother wrote via Instagram in October 2020, on what would’ve been Benjamin’s 28th birthday. “The depth of the pain is suffocating and bottomless without you every moment of every day. I will never be the same.”
In addition to Benjamin, Lisa shares daughter Riley, born in 1989, with Keough, whom she was married to from 1998 to 1994. She has also been married to Michael Jackson, Nicolas Cage and guitarist and producer Michael Lockwood, with whom she shares her twin daughters.
Scroll through for a look at Lisa’s life over the years:
Credit: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
Lisa Marie Presley Through the Years: Marriages, Music Career, Addiction Struggles and More
Rock and roll royalty. Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, followed in her father’s footsteps by pursuing music.
The Tennessee native released three albums over the course of her career — To Whom It May Concern (2003), Now What (2005) and Storm & Grace (2012) — and paid homage to the King by recording duets using tracks that the “Hound Dog” singer released before his death in 1977.
Lisa — the sole heir to her father’s estate — was only nine when the musical legend passed away. After seeing Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film Elvis, the “Shine” singer said she was “moved to tears.”
“Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father’s heart and soul beautifully,” she wrote via Instagram in May 2022 next to a picture of the biopic’s promotional poster. “In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and FINALLY done accurately and respectfully. (If he doesn’t get an Oscar for this, I will eat my own foot, haha.)”
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After suffering loss in her early childhood, the singer-songwriter faced her fair share of struggles in her teen years and into adulthood as well.
“[I used] cocaine, sedatives, pot and drinking — all at the same time. I just couldn’t be sober,” Lisa told Paper Magazine in 2003, recalling her teenage drug use. “I don’t know how I lived through it.”
In 2016, the “Dirty Laundry” musician entered a rehab program for a prescription pill addiction. Three years later, she penned a forward for Harry Nelson’s book, The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation In Pain, opening up about her struggles for the first time.
“I had never openly spoken in public about my own addiction to opioids and painkillers,” Lisa wrote in the March 2019 essay, revealing that she became addicted after being given a short-term prescription while recovering from the birth of her twin daughters, Harper and Finley, in 2008.
The “Lights Out” crooner’s journey as a mother has also been marked by tragedy. In July 2020, her son, Benjamin, whom she shares with ex-husband Danny Keough, died by suicide.
“My beautiful, beautiful angel, I worshipped the ground you walked on, on this earth and now in Heaven. My heart and soul went with you,” the grieving mother wrote via Instagram in October 2020, on what would’ve been Benjamin’s 28th birthday. “The depth of the pain is suffocating and bottomless without you every moment of every day. I will never be the same.”
In addition to Benjamin, Lisa shares daughter Riley, born in 1989, with Keough, whom she was married to from 1998 to 1994. She has also been married to Michael Jackson, Nicolas Cage and guitarist and producer Michael Lockwood, with whom she shares her twin daughters.
Scroll through for a look at Lisa’s life over the years:
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1977
Lisa became the joint heir to Elvis’ estate — along with her grandparents — when the cultural icon died suddenly at age 42. She was nine years old at the time.
Credit: Dave Lewis/Shutterstock
1988
The Graceland heiress married her first husband, Keough.
Credit: SplashNews.com
1989
Lisa and Keough became parents for the first time with the birth of their daughter, Riley.
Credit: AP/Shutterstock
1992
The “Thanx” singer and Keough welcomed their son, Benjamin.
Credit: John Barrett/Shutterstock
1994
Lisa and Keough divorced, however, the pair remained close after their split.
During a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, Elvis’ daughter said of her ex: “The smartest thing I’ve ever done is have children with this man because I knew this is the one man I could be connected to for the rest of my life.”
Credit: Shutterstock
1994
Twenty days after divorcing Keough, Lisa married Jackson. The pair briefly met at a concert in the 1970s but didn’t get to know each other until nearly two decades later.
The King of Pop turned to Lisa for emotional support after he was accused in the summer of 1993 of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy named Jordan Chandler. Jackson died the allegations and reached a $23 million settlement with Chandler’s family in January 1994.
Credit: Keith Waldegrave/ANL/Shutterstock
1996
Lisa and Jackson finalized their divorce in August after separating the previous December.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2003, Lisa said of her relationship with the “Billie Jean” singer: “You get sucked into the, ‘You poor, misunderstood person, you.’ … I’m a sucker for that. … I believed him, because he was so convincing. .. I just believed everything he said, for some reason.”
Credit: Stewart Cook/Shutterstock
2002
Lisa married the Raising Arizona star in August, but just 107 days later, Cage filed for divorce.
During a 2003 interview with Barbara Walters, the Oscar winner recalled meeting the King of Rock and Roll’s daughter at a party in 2000.
“I walk into a party not knowing who I’m going to meet and there’s this beautiful girl standing in the middle of the living room wearing this short leather skirt and this fluffy jacket, and she looks up at me with these big, beautiful, soulful eyes,” he gushed at the time. “Eyes that look like they have a sad story to tell, and I just went ‘Oh.’ I was thunderstruck.”
Credit: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
2003
The “Over Me” songwriter released her debut album, To Whom It May Concern.
Credit: Hahn Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock
2004
Lisa and Cage finalized their divorce.
During a 2003 appearance on Larry King Live, Lisa said that she and the Leaving Las Vegas actor had “a great connection” in the early stages of their relationship.
Credit: Mark J Terrill/AP/Shutterstock
2006
Lisa married Lockwood, her guitarist and music producer. Keough served as best man at the nuptials, held in Japan.
Credit: Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock
2008
The “I Love You Because” singer welcomed twin daughters with Lockwood.
Credit: Copetti/Photofab/Shutterstock
2012
After being a member of the Church of Scientology since childhood, Lisa announced that she was stepping away from the organization.
Credit: Jim Ruymen/UPI/Shutterstock
2016
Lisa filed for divorce in July, citing irreconcilable differences and requesting that Lockwood only be allowed monitored visitation of their daughters.
That August, Us confirmed that she had entered a rehab program for pill addiction.
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2017
The Beverly Hills Police Department confirmed in February that it was investigating Lockwood after Lisa claimed in court papers related to the couple’s divorce that she had found “disturbing” photos of children on a computer belonging to her estranged husband.
That same month, Priscilla confirmed that she was caring for her twin granddaughters in the wake of the alleged child abuse.
One month later, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation ended its probe into Lockwood without filing charges or opening an official case.
Credit: Courtesy of Lisa Marie Presley/Instagram
2020
The songwriter’s son, Benjamin, died by suicide in July.
“[Lisa] is heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter, Riley,” her rep, Roger Widynowski, told Us in a statement at the time. “She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.”
That same month, Lockwood filed new papers in the estranged exes’ custody battle, claiming that the tragic loss could trigger a drug relapse for Lisa.
“Petitioner’s son shot and killed himself in Petitioner’s home (although Petitioner was not there at the time),” Lockwood stated in documents obtained by Us. “With all due sympathy and respect, this creates a new and unaddressed twofold problem: the safety of the children and the greater likelihood of Petitioner to relapse into drug or alcohol dependency.”
Credit: Chris Pizzello/AP/Shutterstock
2021
Lisa and Lockwood finalized their divorce in May, nearly five years after their split.
The music producer went on to marry Stephanie Hobgood in October 2022.
Credit: Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
2022
The “Weary” crooner supported Luhrmann’s homage to her father’s life by attending the premiere of Elvis in June alongside her daughter, Riley, and her mother.