Elvis Presley’s only child, Lisa Marie Presley, has died at the age of 54.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Priscilla Presley said, “It is with a heavy heart that I have to share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us.” She was the most passionate, strong, loving woman I’ve ever known.”
A statement sent to USA TODAY on behalf of the Priscilla and Presley family said, “We are devastated by the tragic passing of their beloved Lisa Marie. They are deeply grateful for everyone’s support, love and prayers. , we are asking for privacy during this very difficult time.”
Presley started the week in a festive mood, first celebrating his father’s 88th birthday with fans at Graceland, Elvis’ Memphis home. The King of Rock and Roll in the Baz Luhrmann biopic Elvis.
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But on Thursday, she suffered an apparent cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, just north of Los Angeles, and was rushed to a local hospital. According to TMZ, first to report the news. She died a few hours later.
Presley was famous from the moment she was born, releasing three albums to establish herself as a singer, but she plunged into the pop culture whirlpool with a surprise showdown with beleaguered pop superstar Michael Jackson. She got married and later married Elvis aficionado and actor Nicolas Cage.
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Both of these marriages were short-lived, but the more lasting marriage produced four children, including son Benjamin Keough, who committed suicide in 2020 and was buried in Graceland.
For the most part, Presley became widely known as the custodian of his legacy and the heir to his fortune, with hooded eyes and a smoldering appearance that was clearly reminiscent of Elvis.
“He will be proud”:Lisa Marie Presley, fans celebrate Elvis’ 88th birthday
Lisa Marie Presley recently celebrated Elvis’ 88th birthday with fans at Graceland
Four days before her death, Presley was at Graceland to help fans celebrate her father’s 88th birthday.
“It’s been a long time. I missed you,” she told the crowd on Sunday. “
Two nights ago, Butler thanked her father for her dedication from the Golden Globes stage.
“Thank you for opening your heart, your memories and your home to me,” he told Presley in his acceptance speech. “Lisa Marie, Priscilla, I will always love you.”
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Lisa Marie Presley grew up in the shadow of her father’s fame until her parents divorced in 1973. Her name even adorned his jet. A remarkable singing voice to match.
Despite being the only child of a global icon, Presley occasionally seemed to wonder what the fuss over her was all about.
“I thought it was an interesting idea, but I wasn’t quite sure how other people would find it funny,” she told USA TODAY in 2012.
Among the more moving personal belongings were the blue record player that spun her first 45, her footprints stamped on hospital birth records, and a recreation of Presley’s nursery school. “It’s all very personal and subjective,” she said. “But it worked.”
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Shocking marriage to Michael Jackson
She made pop culture waves in 1994 when she divorced musician Danny Keough, father of her children Riley and Benjamin, and married Jackson. Although divorced, Presley remained a staunch defender of child abuse accusations against the star over the years.
She married Cage in 2002, which lasted only a few months before they split.In 2006, she married guitarist Michael Lockwood. They divorced in 2021 and have Finley and Harper’s 11-year-old twin daughters together.
If Presley found solace in the storm of being Elvis’ only child, it’s in Kent, an idyllic English suburb southeast of London that stole much of her time and heart about a decade ago. .
Presley told USA TODAY before releasing his album Storm & Grace in 2012 that he was eager to return to a life of non-celebrity in England.
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“I love it there,” she said. “I garden, take long walks and cook. I have really nice neighbors. It’s a lot of fun, but that’s where we meet everyone. From the village.”
In that same interview, Presley said she feels emotionally and financially robbed by her closest confidant.
“I was slowly starting to self-destruct and I didn’t know where it was coming from,” Presley told USA TODAY, suggesting the damage was both personal and professional. I got bad advice, I was out of touch with reality and isolated.They were taking my soul, my money, my everything.”
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Presley’s demons also included drug addiction. In 2019, she elaborated on her opioid addiction in the foreword to her book The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain.
Referring to feeling “good to be alive”, Presley said the painkillers prescribed after the birth of the twins eventually led to a full-blown addiction.
“It has been a difficult road to overcome this addiction and get my life back on track,” she wrote. It’s time to say goodbye to the shame of addiction and we must stop blaming and judging ourselves and the people around us … It starts with sharing our stories.”
Lisa Marie Presley is buried at Graceland:She will be buried next to her son Benjamin, Elvis
Presley will be forced to face a different kind of pain in 2020 when his 27-year-old son commits suicide.In honor of National Grief Awareness Day this fall, Presley I wrote an essay for People About the pain her family has been dealing with after her son’s death.
“I knew my life and my three daughters’ lives had been completely exploded and destroyed by his death. We live in this. Single. Day,” she wrote. rice field. “Grief is something that will have to stay with you for the rest of your life, despite what certain people and our culture want us to believe. ‘ and ‘move on’. ”
After all, Presley might have found the peace she’d been seeking all her life had she been able to spend more time in the place she truly called home.
“I love Graceland,” she told USA TODAY in 2012. “My heart is always there.”
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