Lisa Marie Presley Through the Years: From Marriages to Addiction Struggles and More

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Lisa Marie Presley Through the Years: From Marriages to Addiction Struggles and More

Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, made a name for herself in the public eye. She was only 9 years old when her father died in 1977. As she continued to grow up, Lisa Marie was quick to follow in her dad’s footsteps. She released three albums over the years — To Whom It May Concern (2003), Now What (2005) and Storm & Grace (2012). Lisa Marie was also candid about struggling with addiction throughout her life, detailing all her ups and downs in her October 2024 memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, released after she died. She recalled getting addicted to opioids following the 2008 birth of her twin daughters, Harper and Finley. “It escalated to 80 pills a day,” she wrote of her addiction in the book. “It took more and more to get high, and I honestly don’t know when your body decided it can’t deal with it anymore. But it does decide that at some point.” After experiencing heart failure, she decided to go to rehab. In the book, Lisa Marie’s eldest daughter, Riley Keough — who cowrote the memoir — recalled worrying about her mother’s sobriety following the death of Benjamin Keough. Lisa Marie’s only son died from suicide in July 2020 at age 27. She wrote candidly about not relapsing after he passed. Lisa Marie died in January 2023 at age 54 after suffering cardiac arrest. Keep scrolling to look back at her life through 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.

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1988

The Graceland heiress married her first husband, Keough. 

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1989

Lisa and Keough became parents for the first time with the birth of their daughter, Riley. 

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1992

The “Thanx” singer and Keough welcomed their son, Benjamin. 

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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."

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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.”

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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.

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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.” 

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2003

The “Over Me” songwriter released her debut album, To Whom It May Concern.

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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.

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2006

Lisa married Lockwood, her guitarist and music producer. Keough served as best man at the nuptials, held in Japan.

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2012

After being a member of the Church of Scientology since childhood, Lisa announced that she was stepping away from the organization.

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2008

The “I Love You Because” singer welcomed twin daughters with Lockwood. 

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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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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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2023

In January, Lisa was rushed to the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest. TMZ reported that the singer-songwriter was given CPR after paramedics received an emergency call to her Calabasas, California, residence.

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2023

Priscilla confirmed in January that Lisa Marie died at age 54 after suffering from cardiac arrest.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla said in a statement. “She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers. At this time there will be no further comment.”

Us confirmed in July of that year that Lisa Marie died of sequelae of small bowel obstruction. According to the autopsy, "The obstruction was in the form of a strangulated small bowel caused by adhesions that developed after bariatric surgery years ago.”

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2024

Riley released her mother’s memoir more than a year after Lisa Marie’s death.

“In the years before she died, my mother, Lisa Marie Presley, began writing her memoir. Though she tried various approaches and sat for many book interviews, she couldn’t figure out how to write about herself,” she wrote in the book’s foreword. “She didn’t find herself interesting, even though, of course, she was. She didn’t like talking about herself. She was insecure.”

Riley explained that Lisa Marie asked her to complete the book.

“She wasn’t sure what her value to the public was other than being Elvis’s daughter,” she added. “She was so wracked with self-criticism that working on the book became incredibly difficult for her. I don’t think she fundamentally understood how or why her story should be told.”