Lisa Marie Presley: How she turned personal tragedy into hope

Lisa Marie Presley, who has died astatine the property of 54, stepped retired of her father's shadiness with her music, but experienced "more than anyone's just share" of calamity and heartbreak successful her life.

"I've dealt with death, grief and nonaccomplishment since the property of 9 years old," she wrote past August.

She was conscionable 9 erstwhile her begetter Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, died.

She was 52 erstwhile her lad Benjamin Keough, killed himself successful 2020.

She was joined 4 times, including to precocious vocalist Michael Jackson and histrion Nicolas Cage.

Born successful 1968 to Elvis and her histrion parent Priscilla, Lisa Marie spent the archetypal 4 years of her beingness astatine her parents' mansion Graceland successful Memphis, Tennessee.

Elvis doted connected his girl and adjacent named his pitchy aft her. But pursuing her parents' divorcement successful 1973, Lisa Marie went to unrecorded with her parent successful the suburbs of Los Angeles, with regular visits to her begetter astatine his home.

It is the spot wherever helium died successful 1977, astatine the property of 42. Doctors said helium died of a bosom attack, which was apt brought connected by his addiction to medicine barbiturates.

Perhaps not surprisingly, her teenage years were troubled.

In 2003, she told the Los Angeles Times that pursuing her father's death, her parent sent her to a bid of backstage schools erstwhile "she began acting retired and experimenting with drugs".

"I was benignant of a loner, a melancholy and unusual child," Lisa Marie told the newspaper.

"I had a existent self-destructive mode for a while. I ne'er truly acceptable into school. I didn't truly person immoderate direction."

She credited Scientology "with helping her interruption from drugs and commencement gathering immoderate self-esteem", saying the arguable religion was "a signifier of self-help, self-discovery".

"It's not truthful overmuch a God thing. It's nondenominational. It offered answers to questions I had astir life. In the astir basal way, it's similar Humpty Dumpty. When I fell disconnected the wall, they helped enactment maine backmost together."

It was sometimes hard to support herself together. She became addicted to opioids and painkillers pursuing the commencement of her duplicate daughters successful 2008, according to CNN.

She opened up astir the addiction successful the foreword for the 2019 publication The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation successful Pain.

"Many much radical are suffering silently, addicted to opioids and different substances. I americium penning this successful the anticipation that I tin play a tiny portion successful focusing attraction connected this unspeakable crisis," she wrote.

She besides had 2 children, Riley and Benjamin, with her archetypal husband, instrumentalist Danny Keough.

Her 2nd matrimony was to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, successful May 1994. They divorced successful 1997.

Lisa Marie memorably appeared successful his euphony video for You Are Not Alone successful 1995, which was oddly interspersed with what looked similar intimate chamber footage of the scantily-clad couple.

She told Rolling Stone magazine successful 2003 she had been attracted by his mysterious manner and wanted to support him from allegations of kid abuse.

Lisa Marie besides said she was "not proud" of her little marriage, which was truthful atrocious that by the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, the hostility betwixt them was plain to see. She was near glaring astatine him from the assemblage arsenic helium performed a medley of hits.

"It conscionable got truly disfigured astatine the end," she said.

She demanded a divorce, but helium refused to talk to her, adding that the acquisition sent her into a intelligence and carnal breakdown - which she took to penning songs to overcome.

But she added: "I'm not into Michael-bashing astatine all. I cognize radical privation to cognize what that was about, and I'm trying to accidental it without making him a atrocious guy.

"It's hard to do, due to the fact that it was specified a atrocious situation."

At the extremity of the 1990s, she felt capable to effort to measurement into the spotlight arsenic a instrumentalist successful her ain right.

Although she had written songs during her aboriginal years, the unit of being the King's girl had been an understandable deterrent to making her euphony public. There was truthful overmuch to unrecorded up to.

In 1997, she performed a duet with her precocious father, singing connected his 1968 way Don't Cry Daddy.

Then songwriter and shaper Glen Ballard encouraged her to marque solo music, co-ordinating a woody with Capitol, with a slated merchandise for her debut medium successful 2000.

Her idiosyncratic beingness was inactive fraught, however, with a 2002 matrimony to histrion Nicolas Cage, who won an Oscar successful 1996 for the movie Leaving Las Vegas and starred successful Face Off. They divided aft conscionable 107 days together.

Her archetypal medium To Whom It May Concern yet came retired successful 2003, followed by 2 much successful 2005 and 2012.

Lisa Marie had written the bulk of the often downbeat lyrics, and co-written the melodies.

The Guardian gave her archetypal medium 1 star, with professional Alexis Petridis writing: "It sounds similar Alanis Morissette pushed done a sieve until each distinguishing diagnostic has been strained away."

But AllMusic.com describes it arsenic "a sharp, ambitious mainstream pop/rock medium performed by a vocalist with existent character", calling her "sharp and brash".

It reached a fig 5 connected the Billboard chart, portion her 2nd medium made the apical 10. Her third, Storm & Grace - a collaboration with T-Bone Burnett - lone charted astatine 45 but had a overmuch amended captious reception, with Q mag calling it a "likeable grounds if not a startling one".

In 2005, she told Oprah Winfrey that being compared with her begetter was "a immense upland to climb".

By the pursuing year, Lisa Marie was joined to instrumentalist Michael Lockwood, and 2 years aboriginal their duplicate daughters Finley and Harper were born. Presley and Lockwood stayed unneurotic until 2016, and she told Oprah the champion happening she did for her children was "overwhelming them with affection and love".

Lisa Marie's beingness was successful immoderate ways cushioned by her immense inherited wealth, but she was quoted arsenic saying: "Something happens to radical astir fame and powerfulness and wealth - it tin bring retired the worst and champion successful people; it's a monster you person to tame."

The communicative of her father's emergence and autumn has precocious been told successful manager Baz Luhrmann's biopic, titled simply Elvis, which evidently touched Lisa Marie deeply. She called it "nothing abbreviated of spectacular" and "absolutely exquisite".

Seen conscionable earlier this week astatine the Golden Globes, wherever Austin Butler won champion histrion successful a play movie for his portrayal of her father, she and her parent cried arsenic helium collected his award.

Lisa Marie leaves down what could beryllium described arsenic a communicative of tackling and often overcoming tragedy.

In an essay astir grief pursuing the decease of her lad Benjamin, Lisa Marie wrote successful August 2022: "Grief is thing you volition person to transportation with you for the remainder of your life, successful spite of what definite radical oregon our civilization wants america to believe. You bash not 'get implicit it,' you bash not 'move on,' period.

"I'm saying this... successful the hopes that possibly contiguous oregon arsenic soon arsenic possible, you tin scope retired to idiosyncratic who is grieving idiosyncratic they loved and lost. Whether they mislaid a child, a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a fiancé, anyone.

"Ask them however they're doing, inquire them to speech astir their person. Yes! We DO privation to speech astir them. That's however we support them live successful our hearts, that's however they don't get forgotten, that is what keeps america live arsenic well.

"And bash maine a favour, don't archer them that 'you can't imagine' their pain. The information is, ohio yes you tin - you conscionable don't privation to."

Perhaps that connection volition extremity up arsenic her legacy, arsenic her household present deals with 1 much tragedy.