Photo Credit: Dr Umm / CC by 2.0
The only child of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, has died at age 54.
Lisa Marie Presley, singer-songwriter and the only child of rock and roll pioneer Elvis Presley, has died after suffering cardiac arrest at her Calabasas, California, home on Thursday. She was 54 years old and 20 days shy of her 55th birthday.
Lisa Marie had reportedly complained of stomach pains earlier Thursday morning and was found unresponsive by her housekeeper later that day. Danny Keough, Presley’s ex-husband with whom she lived, administered CPR until paramedics arrived. She was taken to a nearby Intensive Care Unit and placed on life support. Lisa Marie’s father and paternal grandmother also died young due to heart attacks, at 42 and 46, respectively.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” her mother, Priscilla, confirmed in a statement Thursday evening. “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.”
Lisa Marie Presley was born in Memphis on February 1, 1968. She experienced a difficult early childhood, with her parents’ divorce when she was four years old and her father’s death when she was nine. In an interview with Playboy in 2003, Lisa Marie revealed that her mother’s post-divorce boyfriend, actor Michael Edwards, sexually abused Lisa Marie for three years, beginning when she was 12. She was raised as a Scientologist but quietly left the church between 2012 and 2014.
After Elvis Presley died in 1977, Lisa Marie became a joint heir to his estate, along with her grandfather and great-grandmother. The estate was reportedly only worth $5 million at the time. Still, as a trustee in Elvis’ will, her mother worked to build that fortune up to an estimated $100 million by the time Lisa Marie inherited the estate solely on her 25th birthday. She was the owner and chairman of the board of the Elvis Presley Trust and its business entity, Elvis Presley Enterprises, from 1998 until 2005.
In 2003, Lisa Marie launched her own music career at the surprisingly late age of 35 — for the child of a musician — with her album To Whom It May Concern. The album featured big-name personnel like Billy Corgan and peaked at Number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. It received mostly positive reviews, as did her subsequent two albums: 2005’s Now What (which featured a cover of Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry”) and 2012’s Storm & Grace.
Lisa Marie’s death occurred only two days after she and her mother attended the Golden Globes ceremony in support of Austin Butler, who won Best Actor in a Drama Film for his portrayal of her father in Elvis.