Lisa Marie Presley

Lisa Marie Presley (February 1, 1968 – January 12, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter.

She was the only child of singer and actor Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley, as well as the sole heir to her father's estate. Presley developed a career in the music business and issued three albums: To Whom It May Concern in 2003, Now What in 2005, and Storm & Grace in 2012. Her first album reached Gold certification with the Recording Industry Association of America. Presley also released non-album singles, including duets with her father using tracks he had released before he died.

Presley was married to musician Danny Keough, singer Michael Jackson, actor Nicolas Cage, and music producer Michael Lockwood.

Spouses

• Danny Keough, (m. 1988; div. 1994)​
• Michael Jackson, (m. 1994; div. 1996)​
• Nicolas Cage, (m. 2002; div. 2004)​
• Michael Lockwood, (m. 2006; div. 2021)​

Children 4, including Riley Keough
Parents - Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley

Navarone Garibaldi - (half-brother)

Early life

Lisa Marie was born on February 1, 1968, to Elvis and Priscilla Presley at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis in midtown Memphis, Tennessee, nine months to the day after her parents' wedding. After her parents divorced, she lived with her mother in Los Angeles, California, with frequent stays with her father at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

When her father died in August 1977, nine-year-old Presley became joint heir to his estate with her grandfather, Vernon Presley, and her great-grandmother, Minnie Mae Hood Presley. Upon Vernon's death in 1979 and Minnie Mae's in 1980, she became the sole heir and inherited Graceland. On her 25th birthday in 1993, she inherited the estate, which had grown to an estimated $100 million. In 2004, Presley sold 85 percent of her father's estate.

In the late 1970s, a year or two after her father's death, she attended her first rock concert when she saw Queen at The Forum in Inglewood, California. She gave Freddie Mercury a scarf of her father's after the show, and expressed her love of theatrics.

Her parents divorced when she was four years old, and she was nine years old when her father died. Shortly after her father's death, her mother began dating actor Michael Edwards. Lisa Marie was reportedly sexually abused by Edwards when she was between 12 and 15 years old. In an interview with Playboy magazine in 2003, Presley said Edwards had the habit of invading her private room intoxicated and was inappropriate with her.

Music career

On April 8, 2003, Presley released her debut album, To Whom It May Concern. It reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and was certified gold in June 2003. Presley wrote all the lyrics (except "The Road Between", which was co-written with Gus Black) and co-wrote every melody. To promote it, she presented a concert in the UK. The album's first single, "Lights Out", reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 chart and No. 16 on the UK charts. Presley collaborated with Billy Corgan for a co-written track called "Savior", which was included as the B-side.

Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn reviewed Presley's debut album. He said, "The music on her new album has a stark, uncompromising tone" and "Presley's gutsy blues-edged voice has a distinctive flair."

Her second album, released April 5, 2005, Now What, reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Presley co-wrote 10 songs and recorded covers of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" (the album's first single, which hit No. 36 on the Billboard 100 AC singles chart), and the Ramones' "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow". The song "Idiot" is a jab towards different men in her life. Unlike her first album, Now What included a Parental Advisory sticker. Presley covers Blue Öyster Cult's "Burnin' for You" as a B-side. Pink makes a guest appearance on the track "Shine".

Her third album, Storm & Grace, was released on May 15, 2012. She said: "It's much more of a rootsy record, organic record, than my previous work." It is produced by Oscar and Grammy winner T Bone Burnett.

AllMusic offered this view: "On her first two albums, Lisa Marie Presley wanted to be a pop star with a difference; on Storm & Grace, she clearly would rather be an artist, and if she's still working her musical shortcomings out of her system, this is a stronger, more mature, and more effective work than one might have expected. Nearly ten years into a recording career she may or may not have wanted, Presley is finally developing a musical personality that truly suits her."

Spinner.com observed: "Presley has made the strongest album of her career in the upcoming Storm & Grace. It's a moody masterpiece, exploring the demons and angels of her life to the tune of country-spiced downbeat pop."

Entertainment Weekly praised the "smoky, spooky" single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".

Collaborations

Pat Benatar and Lisa Marie Presley performed at the VH1 Divas Duets, a concert to benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 22, 2003, in Las Vegas. Together they sang Benatar's hit "Heartbreaker", which Presley frequently performed at her own concerts on tours afterward. Also in 2003, Presley contributed a recording of "Silent Night" for the NBC Holiday Collection, Sounds of the Season.

In 2006 a documentary about Johnny Ramone of the rock group the Ramones was released called Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone. Directed by Mandy Stein, the film shows Deborah Harry, the Dickies, X, Eddie Vedder, Lisa Marie and Red Hot Chili Peppers as they stage a benefit concert to celebrate the Ramones' 30th anniversary and to raise money for cancer research.

In August 2007, the single "In the Ghetto" was released. Elvis Presley had originally released the single in 1969. In the new version, Lisa "duets" with her father. The video, simultaneously released with the single, reached No. 1 on the iTunes sales and No. 16 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart. The song was recorded to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of her father's death. Lisa Marie said she decided not only to sing, but to sing with him. "I wanted to use this for something good," she told Spinner, so she filmed the video in New Orleans. Proceeds from the video and single benefited a new Presley Place Transitional Housing Campus there. Lisa Marie appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to perform the song with the Harlem Gospel Choir, using vintage footage of her father.

In October 2009, she joined singer Richard Hawley on stage in London. She sang vocals on a song the pair had been working on called "Weary". Hawley wanted to help Presley relaunch her music career, and the two embarked on a songwriting partnership in which Lisa wrote the lyrics and Hawley the music. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Presley said that she was currently recording a new album in London, which was due to be released in 2011.

T-Bone Burnett said of collaborating with Presley on Storm & Grace (2012): "When songs from Lisa Marie Presley showed up at my door, I was curious. I wondered what the daughter of an American revolutionary music artist had to say. What I heard was honest, raw, unaffected and soulful. I thought her father would be proud of her. The more I listened to the songs, the deeper an artist I found her to be. Listening beyond the media static, Lisa Marie Presley is a Southern American folk music artist of great value."

Music videos

Presley appeared in Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" video in June 1995, directed by Wayne Isham. In 1997, Presley made a video of "Don't Cry Daddy" as a duet with her father. This video was presented on August 16, 1997, at the tribute concert that marked the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. The video has Elvis' original vocal to which new instrumentation and Lisa Marie's vocals were added.

Presley's video for her debut single "Lights Out" premiered in February 2003. Directed by Francis Lawrence, the video was from her album To Whom It May Concern. Her second video from that album was directed by Barnaby Roper and shot in New York for the song "Sinking In".

On Presley's second album in 2005, her first single and video was for a cover of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry". The video was directed by Patrick Hoelck and singer George Michael made a cameo appearance in it. Hoelck teamed with Lisa Marie for her second video from that album for the song "Idiot" and shot the video in downtown Los Angeles.

Presley teamed up again with director Tony Kaye for the video of "In the Ghetto". Lisa Marie Presley filmed the video 'In the Ghetto', featuring her late father Elvis, in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. All proceeds from the video and single went to benefit a new Presley Place transitional housing campus there. "I wanted to use this for something good," Lisa Marie told Spinner of the posthumous duet.

In 2006, Presley was asked to take part in a video of Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down". Rick Rubin produced the record and Tony Kaye directed the video which featured Lisa Marie Presley, Iggy Pop, Kanye West, Chris Martin, Kris Kristofferson, Dixie Chicks, Flea, Chris Rock, Kid Rock, Justin Timberlake, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Bono, Shelby Lynne, Jay-Z, Amy Lee, Keith Richards and Johnny Depp and won a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.

A new compilation of her father's love of gospel music was released in 2018. In the title track video, Presley is incorporated into scenes of her and her father, along with Elvis's vocals, as she sings a duet to the song "Where No One Stands Alone".

Charity work and humanitarian efforts

The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation (EPCF) was formed by Graceland/Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. in 1984 to continue Elvis' own tradition of generosity and community service and to honor his memory. The EPCF is overseen by Lisa Marie Presley, chairperson, and the management team of Graceland/Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. In 2001, Presley Place opened to its first residents. Presley Place provides homeless families up to one year of rent-free housing, child day care, career and financial counseling, family management guidance and other tools to help them break the cycle of poverty and regain self-esteem and independence. Also funded by the EPCF is the Elvis Presley Music Room, where the youngsters of Presley Place and others may enjoy access to musical instruments and instruction and participate in special related programs. The EPCF created the Elvis Presley Endowed Scholarship Fund at the College of Communication & Fine Arts at the University of Memphis to assist students majoring in areas of the arts. "All of us with the EPCF and Elvis Presley Enterprises are extremely proud of this amazing facility," stated Presley. "The work that MIFA (the Memphis-based Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association) does truly has an impact on peoples' lives and we look forward to this collaboration."

Presley joined Oprah Winfrey and her Angel Network and was active in the relief efforts after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and surrounding areas. Presley gave a helping hand in Memphis, Tennessee. "I'm here," she said, "because I definitely needed to do something, and it just so happens this is where I'm from. I'm going to do everything I can. People need help—this is a huge catastrophe and everyone needs to stand up." Her first stop was a food bank, where, with the help of FedEx and Kroger, Lisa Marie loaded a truck with groceries. Then it was time for a pit stop at Target for toiletries and clothes. "I thought I was going to grab a couple things at the store," Presley said, "and I ended up filling up a truck. I went a little crazy." Presley's final destination was the Grand Casino Convention Center in Mississippi to distribute the supplies to people who had lost everything. One evacuee said, "I really appreciate everything Ms. Presley is doing for us. We have nothing, so we're very grateful for everything she's doing".

In 2011, Presley became a patron of the Dream Factory, a charity based in Hainault. Presley was one of the celebrity guests at the Snowball held at the Prince Regent in Chigwell in aid of the Dream Factory. Actors Ray Winstone and Sid Owen, who are both patrons of the charity, and Amanda Redman were also among guests at the star-studded event, which raised $59,000 towards granting the wishes of terminally ill children and those with life-threatening illnesses or disabilities. Organizer Avril Mills said: "We have granted 83 dreams in under three years, so the money is going to go towards a lot more dreams. It costs between $500 and $5,000 for a dream. Lisa Marie Presley was very nice and she now wants to become a patron of the charity. We talked about the charity and she brought a big framed picture of Elvis, which she got flown over for the Dream Factory from Graceland, and that raised $5,000."

Grammy Foundation

On June 6, 2004, Presley was on hand as the Grammy Foundation, in partnership with 7-UP, named Long Beach Polytechnic High School a Gold Grammy Signature School at Scottish Rite Cathedral in Long Beach, California. Created in 1998, the GRAMMY Signature Schools program recognizes top U.S. public high schools that are making an outstanding commitment to music education during an academic school year. Presley presented the custom award and a monetary grant to benefit the school's music program. On October 22, 2005, Presley presented a special award to Isaac Hayes at the Memphis Recording Academy Honors. A host of hometown stars gathered to see Presley, Justin Timberlake, Isaac Hayes and David Porter honored by the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy. Presley and music producer Jimmy Jam presented the award to Hayes.

On November 11, 2005, Presley participated in a Grammy SoundCheck at L.A.'s House of Blues, during which she and other industry professionals met with a group of music students to discuss career opportunities available to them within the music industry.

Awards and honors

On June 24, 2011, Presley was officially honored by the Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, who proclaimed a day of recognition for her charitable efforts. Two 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, TN, do hereby recognize the lifelong service of this illustrious humanitarian and philanthropist."

Personal life

Presley and her family lived in San Francisco. 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. In a 2013 interview with Luka Neskovic for The Huffington Post, Presley said that maybe one day she would write an autobiography, stating: "It's not out of the question. I would like to have my life out there in my own words, rather than speculations." In 2005, Lisa Marie allowed a brief look into her personal life, appearing in the TV movie, Elvis by the Presleys. Her son, Benjamin Keough, died on July 12, 2020, at the age of 27 in Calabasas, California, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office listed his death as a suicide.

Relationships

Presley married Chicago-born musician Danny Keough on October 3, 1988. They had two children: a daughter, Riley Keough (born May 29, 1989), an actress and model, and a son, Benjamin Storm Keough (October 21, 1992 – July 12, 2020). Presley obtained a quickie divorce in the Dominican Republic on May 6, 1994.

Twenty days after her divorce from Keough, Presley married singer Michael Jackson. They had first met in 1975 when a seven-year-old Presley attended several of his concerts in Las Vegas. According to a friend of Presley's, "their adult friendship began in November 1992 in L.A." As child molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on Presley for emotional support. She was concerned about his faltering health and his addiction to drugs. Presley explained, "I believed he didn't do anything wrong, and that he was wrongly accused and, yes, I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it." Shortly afterwards, she tried to persuade Jackson to settle the allegations out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover. He did both. In January 1996, citing irreconcilable differences, Presley filed for divorce, according to legal papers. Michael Jackson's make-up artist, Karen Faye, later claimed that Jackson had originally planned to file for divorce first and had relented after Presley begged him not to file. The following day, Jackson discovered that Presley had filed for divorce herself. 

In an October 2010 interview with talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, Presley revealed that she and Jackson had attempted to reconcile intermittently for four years following their divorce and that she had traveled to different parts of the world in order to be with him. After Jackson's death in 2009, Presley was reported to have "felt shattered".

Presley was engaged in 2000 to musician John Oszajca. She broke off the engagement after meeting Nicolas Cage at a party. Presley's third marriage was to Cage. They were married on August 10, 2002. Cage filed for divorce on November 25, 2002, and the divorce was finalized in 2004.

In 2005, Danny Keough was a bass guitar player in Presley's band, and also served as her musical mentor. Presley still regarded him as a close friend, and he lived in the guest house on Presley's property. Presley described her relationship with Keough after they separated: "I don't know how, but we've managed to stay close ... There's others that I have pain or betrayal associated with that I won't have anything to do with. But he and I had a special thing. Unconditional." In a 2003 interview with The Commercial Appeal, Presley commented on reports that she and Keough were planning to remarry: "Danny is my best friend, always has been, always will be. I love him unconditionally, but we are not together. It's not like that." Keough and Presley became closer again after Presley divorced Michael Jackson.] Keough's younger brother Thomas Keough had been an official witness at Presley's wedding to Michael Jackson.

Presley married for a fourth time on January 22, 2006, to Michael Lockwood, her guitarist, music producer and director. Danny Keough served as best man at the couple's wedding, held in Japan. In March 2008, Presley announced that she was pregnant, following speculation over her apparent weight gain. Her husband was a first-time father. On October 7, 2008, Presley gave birth to fraternal twin girls, Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood, via Caesarean section at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California. The twins weighed 5 pounds 2 ounces (2.3 kg) and 5 lb 15 ounces (2.7 kg), respectively. In 2016, Presley filed for divorce from Lockwood after ten years of marriage. In February 2017, Presley said that her daughters were taken into protective custody and she opposed Lockwood's request for spousal support, claiming that she had found hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on his personal computer. The divorce was finalized in 2021.

Scientology

In October 1997, Presley, along with friend and fellow Memphian and Scientologist Isaac Hayes, opened the Literacy, Education and Ability Program (LEAP). LEAP is run by Applied Scholastics, a group run by Scientologists.

On January 5, 2002, Presley received the Humanitarian Award from the Church of Scientology-supported World Literacy Crusade for her efforts to help children across America learn study skills. Presley received her award from Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan and Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. World Literacy Crusade is regarded by critics as a front group for the Church of Scientology. On September 26 of that same year, Presley addressed a Congressional hearing in opposition to the use of medication in treating ADHD, stating: "I have spoken to children who have been forced to take a cocaine-like stimulant to control their behavior; I have shared their sense of sheer desperation. Children have been wrenched from their family's care simply because their parents favored an alternative, drug-free approach to addressing educational and behavioral problems. The psychotropic drugging of millions of children has to stop." Addressing the committee as the International Spokesperson for Children's Rights, for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a group run by Scientologists, Presley expressed her view that parents should be informed about alternatives to drugs so they may "make an informed choice about their child's educational and medical needs".

Presley left Scientology in 2014, though she had been experiencing growing discontent with the organization as far back as 2008. Her mother, Priscilla, reportedly also left Scientology soon after. Priscilla's representative soon denied the news, adding she was still an active member.

Death

On January 12, 2023, Presley suffered cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, California. Presley's heart was restarted after CPR was administered, en route to a hospital. She died later that day at the age of 54, three weeks before her 55th birthday. Her last public appearance was at the 80th Golden Globe Awards, which she attended with her mother, Priscilla Presley, on January 10, 2023.

Elvis Presley estate

After Elvis Presley's death at Graceland on August 16, 1977, his will appointed his father, Vernon Presley, executor and trustee. The beneficiaries of the trust were Vernon, Elvis' grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, and Lisa Marie, whose inheritance was to be held in trust until her 25th birthday. After Vernon's death in 1979, Elvis' former wife Priscilla Presley was named as one of three trustees in his will; the others were the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis and Joseph Hanks, who had been the Presleys' accountant. With Minnie Mae Presley's death in 1980, Lisa became the only surviving beneficiary.

On her 25th birthday in 1993, Presley inherited her father's estate, which, thanks largely to the stewardship of her mother, had grown to an estimated $100 million.

In 1998, Presley became more closely involved in the management of the Elvis Presley Trust and its business entity, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE). She was owner and chairman of the board until February 2005, when she sold 85 percent of the estate's business holdings to CKX, Inc., excluding Graceland itself and the property within it.

"Elvis Through His Daughter's Eyes" exhibit

In February 2012, Presley opened a new exhibit, "Elvis ... Through His Daughter's Eyes". It is now included in the Graceland VIP Tour and features 200 items assembled by Presley and the Graceland Archives staff.

The personal exhibit looks at Presley's experience of growing up with a famous father. Home movies, toys and rarely seen family mementos are among the items on display.

Aircraft Lisa Marie

In November 1975, her father named one of his private aircraft, a converted Convair 880 jet (original passenger capacity: 100), after her. He spent more than $1 million refurbishing it to use as his main transport while on tour. The Lisa Marie and one of his other planes, Hound Dog II, are on exhibit at Graceland. In January 2015 both planes were for sale.

Tours

• S.O.B. Tour (2003–2004)
• Now What Tour (2005–2006)
• Storm & Grace Tour (2012–2014)