The Presley Curse: A Family’s Internal Struggle After Lisa Marie’s Death

Lisa Marie – Elvis Presley’s only child and sole heiress to his Graceland estate – had a cardiac arrest and was rushed to the hospital on Friday morning.

Her mother Priscilla Presley, 77, confirmed her death a few hours later.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the terrible news that my beautiful daughter Lisa-Maria has left us,” Priscilla confirmed in a statement to People.

“She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this deep loss. Thanks for the love and prayers. There will be no further comment at this time.”

This is the latest devastating update for the Presleys, who have suffered a string of horrific tragedies over the years.

Lisa Marie, who had four children, was the family figure who was hit by the most traumatic setbacks, beginning with her parents’ divorce when she was only five and the death in 1977 of her father, the king of rock and roll. .

Lisa Marie found Elvis’ body

Elvis, then 42, checked on the then nine-year-old Lisa Marie in her bedroom at his Graceland mansion at 4:00 am on August 16, 1977. He found her awake and getting out of bed.

Actually, I should have been sleeping. He found me,” Lisa Marie said earlier. Radar online.

Helping his only child into bed, Elvis kissed her on the forehead.

“That was the last time I saw him alive,” Lisa Marie said.

Suspicious Thoughts The singer was scheduled to fly out of Memphis the following evening to begin the tour in Portland, Oregon. But his lifeless body was found by his then-girlfriend Ginger Alden on the bathroom floor on the afternoon of August 16th.

Lisa Marie, who said she saw her father face down on the carpet next to the toilet, recalled calling Elvis’ ex-girlfriend, Linda Thompson.

“My dad is dead! He suffocated in the carpet! she remembered, speaking to Thompson.

Lisa Marie rarely talked about the day her father died. In an interview in 2003 Playboythe singer said she “avoids” the topic “in all interviews”.

“I don’t like to capitalize on it, especially for people’s entertainment,” she said.

“It’s not that I don’t like talking about him. And yes, I could clarify. It’s just that I don’t feel comfortable divulging anything about it because people have been doing it for so long to cash in on it. I hate these people so much. Gaining attention by discussing it is against my moral code.”

Four failed marriages

Lisa Marie’s first marriage was to Chicago musician Danny Keogh, with whom she remained close even after their split.

The couple married in 1988 and had two children: daughter Riley, 33, and son Benjamin, who was 27 at the time of his death in 2020.

Just three weeks after her divorce from Kio, Lisa Marie tied the knot with Michael Jackson in 1994, whom she had known since she was six years old.

The King of Pop’s unlikely union with Elvis’ daughter came as Jackson faced unprecedented scrutiny of his personal life, namely his close friendships with little boys.

The couple later raised their eyebrows after their joint interview with journalist Diane Sawyer in June 1995, where Sawyer spoke frankly to Jackson about his allegations of child sexual abuse.

“What does a 36-year-old man do when he sleeps with a 12-year-old boy – or several of them?” she asked Jackson.

“I have never invited anyone into my bed—ever. Children love me; they follow me.”

Lisa Marie, who was a singer and released four albums in her life, defended her husband in a statement that sparked controversy, telling Sawyer that she saw the children he surrounds himself with.

“They don’t even let him into the bathroom so he doesn’t run there with him… when he jumps into bed, I even get out. He jumps there with them,” said Presley.

The marriage ultimately didn’t last – Lisa Marie filed for divorce in early 1996, citing “irreconcilable differences,” and noted in her statement that they effectively separated in December 1995, shortly after Jackson was hospitalized following a collapse. and the couple argued. .

Despite their split, the couple maintained a friendship until Jackson’s death in 2009, which reportedly left Lisa Marie “broken”.

After her divorce, Lisa Marie was briefly engaged to musician John Oshaika but broke off the engagement after meeting American actor Nicolas Cage at a party. Lisa Marie and Cage got married in August 2002, and Cage filed for divorce just three months later.

“I’m sad about this, but we shouldn’t have gotten married at all. It was a big mistake, ”Lisa Marie said then.

Child pornography lawsuits against fourth husband

Lisa Marie’s fourth marriage was to Michael Lockwood, her guitarist, in 2006.

The couple welcomed twin girls in 2008 – Harper and Finley – before Lisa Marie filed for divorce in 2016.

As part of their messy divorce proceedings, Lisa Marie claimed in 2017 that she found “hundreds” of child pornography images on Lockwood’s personal computer. At that time, their daughters were also taken into custody by the state.

“I was shocked, horrified, and nauseous,” wrote Lisa Marie in the newspapers.

Lockwood vehemently denied the allegations, and the case appears to have since been dropped.

Their divorce was finalized in mid-2021, and in October 2022, the duo finally reached a private alimony settlement.

The terrible death of a son

Lisa Marie’s only son, Benjamin Keogh, committed suicide in July 2020. He was 27 years old.

The coroner found that Benjamin had alcohol and cocaine in his system. He didn’t leave a note.

In a first-person article she wrote for People Last year, Lisa Marie wrote about living in a “terrible reality” after her son’s death and shared how she dealt with her grief.

“Death is part of life, whether we like it or not,” Lisa Marie wrote in an emotional essay.

“Grief is incredibly lonely. Even though people come in the heat of the moment to be there for you right after a loss, they soon disappear and go on with their lives, and they sort of expect you to do the same, especially after some time has passed. ”

She described how she “beat herself relentlessly and chronically” and blamed herself “every single day”.

“The unforgiving reality is that you are FORCED to join this terrible ‘club’, if you will, that you never wanted to be in or part of, and you are FORCED then, for lack of a better term, to go and find yourself new people now.”

Lisa Marie said she “keeps going after my girls.”

“My life and that of my three daughters as we knew it was completely destroyed by his death. We live in it each. Lonely. Day,” added Lisa Marie.

“I say all this in the hope that I can raise awareness of grief and loss.”

financial turmoil

In 1993, on her 25th birthday, Lisa Marie became sole heir to her father’s estate, which was worth about US$100 million when she inherited it.

But instead of making a fortune, Lisa Marie appointed others as trustees of her estate, appointing business manager Barry Siegel as a trustee in 2003, who was primarily responsible for managing the trust assets as well as her own income.

In 2018 court documents, Lisa Marie alleged that Siegel had assured her that her finances were in “good condition” but claimed to have reduced her lucrative trust to just $14,000.

In 2019, her mother Priscilla was forced to sell her Los Angeles mansion to help her daughter with her growing debts.

“Priscilla would never have done this if she didn’t believe this was her daughter’s last chance,” a source told RadarOnline at the time of the $5.5 million sale.

Elvis, who was known during his lifetime as a generous and lavish spender, left an impoverished fortune worth about US$5 million after his death. Forbes, and with a mountain of debt.

Priscilla was able to increase this figure significantly after his death when she took over the management of the Elvis Presley Estate (EPE), helping to increase its value to around US$100 million, due in large part to Graceland’s success as a tourist destination.

Even though she lost a lot of her trust in 2018, Lisa Marie seemed to be doing better on the financial front.

Lisa Marie struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic when Graceland was forced to close for two years, but it has been reported that her trust is now earning her up to $100,000 a month, according to Lockwood’s child support claims last year.

Lockwood also claimed in a statement that Lisa Marie was making huge profits for her participation in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 Elvis biopic.