The Presley family has had their share of ups and downs over the past nine years.
With the attention of fans onPriscilla Presley,Lisa Marieand her children ever sinceElvis Presleyhit it big in the 1950s, the family has also seen their share of tragedies, from the King’s early death to, most recently, the shocking death of Lisa Marie.
The singer’s only daughter with ex Priscilladied on Jan. 12, 2023, at the age of 54, two days after appearing at the Golden Globe Awards in support of theElvismovie.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie 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 profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers.”
Here’s a look back on some of the biggest moments that rocked the famous family over the years.
Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla before leaving the hospital following the arrival of daughter Lisa Marie.Bettmann/Getty
Deaths in the Family
Elvis' first experience with death came at his own birth in January of 1935.
Several years after the singer first made a name for himself, another tragedy struck the Presley family.
In 1958, five months after Elvis, then 23, was drafted into the U.S. army, hismother, Gladys Presley, fell ill. On Aug. 14, two days after the singer was granted a seven-day emergency leave to be with her, Gladys died at the age of 46 following a heart attack.
Elvis Presley with mother, Gladys, and father, Vernon, at his induction into the U.S. Army.Bettmann/Getty
Elvis’ Rocky Relationship with Wife Priscilla
Elvis met his first and only wife Priscilla shortly after his mother’s death, while he was stationed in Germany and she lived on a military base with her father, a captain in the Air Force. At the time, Priscilla was 14, while Elvis was 24.
“It was a very innocent time,“she later saidduring aGood Morning Americainterview. “We still had morals, very high standards.”
The two began seeing each other, and after more than seven years of dating, Presley proposed with a three-carat diamond in December 1966.
Priscilla and Elvis Presley at their 1967 wedding.Hulton Archive/Getty
The couple married on May 1, 1967, when Elvis, then 32, still several years away from a rhinestone jumpsuit, was the world’s top-earning entertainer, starring in up to three movies a year and singing his way through their soundtracks. Priscilla was 21.
Less than a year later, the pair welcomed their only child, daughter Lisa Marie, on Feb. 1, 1968.
However, life between the married pair wasn’t always easy.
“I just kind of followed what he did. You lived his life,” Priscilla said during a 2016 appearance on U.K. talk showLoose Women, according to HuffPost. “You saw the movies he wanted to see, you listened to the music he listened to, you’d go to places he would go. Soyou really kind of lost yourself.”
“He didn’t really go out, he didn’t like eating in restaurants because people would take pictures of him and he didn’t want to be shot eating with a fork in his mouth,” she added.
The couple went on todivorcein August of 1972.
“I did not divorce him because I didn’t love him ― he was the love of my life, truly,” Priscilla explained during the 2016 interview. “If anything, I left because I needed to find out what the world was like.”
Elvis and Priscilla Presley.Bettmann/Getty
The Death of The King
Although Presley’s health had been declining in the final years of his life, his death on Aug. 16, 1977, stunned the world.
Lisa Marie Presley’s Four Marriages — and Four Splits
Less than a month after the pair divorced in 1994, Lisa Marie, then 26, married singerMichael Jacksonon May 26. “My marriage to Michael Jackson took place in a private ceremony outside the United States weeks ago,” read a statement from Lisa Marie at the time. “Iam very much in love with Michael, I dedicate my life to being his wife. I understand and support him. We both look forward to raising a family.”
The pairfirst metat one of her late father’s Las Vegas concerts when Lisa Marie was 7 and the King of Pop was still a member of the Jackson Five, before reconnecting years after as adults.
Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson.DEVILLE/MERILLON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty
Two years later, Lisa Marie and Jackson ended their relationship.
“The one thing that correlates with Michael and with my father on this subject is that they had theluxury of creating whatever reality around them they wanted to create,” Presley toldOprah Winfreyduring a 2016 interview, according to HuffPost. “They could have the kinds of people who were going to go with their program or not go with their program. If they weren’t, then they could be disposed of.”
Lisa Marie married for a third time, to actorNicolas Cage.
The pair metat a birthday partyfor Johnny Ramone in 2000, when he wasestranged from Patricia Arquetteand she was engaged to Hawaiian-born musician John Oszajca. They went on to wed in August 2002 during a secret ceremony in Hawaii on the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death.
Lisa Marie Presley and Nicolas Cage.L. Busacca/WireImage
However, less than four months after their wedding, the pair announced they were splitting.
In his own statement, Cage said, “I did not comment on the marriage, I am not going to comment on the divorce.”
Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Lockwood.Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage
Her fourth marriage came in 2006 to Michael Lockwood, with Lisa Marie filing for divorce in June 2016. For years, the two were embroiled in an ongoing custody battle over twin daughters, Harper and Finley.
Lisa Marie Presley and her four children, Riley Keough, Benjamin Keough, Finley Lockwood and Harper Lockwood.Lisa Marie Presley/Instagram
They were declared legally divorced in 2021 while continuing to sort custody and visitation rights.
On Jan. 12, 2023,Lisa Marie diedafter she was hospitalized for suspected cardiac arrest. She was 54 years old.
source: people.com
