Rock ‘n’ roll royalty: Elvis’s death, her son’s suicide, four failed marriages – including to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage – and a crippling cocaine addiction… how Lisa Marie Presley’s cardiac arrest is latest battle in her rollercoaster life
- She was just 9 when she saw her father’s dead body slumped on the carpet
- Lisa Marie went on to have four failed marriages and struggled with drugs
- The star was thrust into the limelight from a young age as the child of Elvis
- She was hit again by tragedy in 2020 after her son Benjamin committed suicide
- READ MORE: Lisa Marie Presley, 54, suffers ‘full cardiac arrest’ at Calabasas home and is resuscitated before being rushed to hospital
Lisa Marie Presley was rushed to hospital less than 2 hours after celebrating her father at the Golden Globes with Austin Butler, who brought him back to life for the big screen.
The 54-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest at her Calabasas home on Thursday morning and was resuscitated by paramedics.
As the only daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, she was quickly thrust into the limelight as a child and has had her fair share of tragedy.
From the death of her father to marrying troubled Michael Jackson and losing her son to suicide in 2020 – the mother-of-four has also had her ups and downs with drug addiction.
Lisa Marie was just nine when she saw her father’s dead body slumped face down on the carpet, as she recalled crying as she said ‘my daddy’s dead’
The 54-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest at her Calabasas home on Thursday morning and was resuscitated by paramedics
While writing the foreword for Harry Nelson’s book – The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain – she opened up for the first time about her addiction to painkillers, opioids and cocaine.
Presley said in the book, written in 2019, that she was ‘grateful to be alive today’ before explaining that she first started taking opioids after the birth of her twins Vivienne and Finley in 2008.
She said: ‘You may read this and wonder how, after losing people close to me, I also fell prey to opioids.
‘It only took a short-term prescription of opioids in the hospital for me to feel the need to keep taking them.’
Addiction has been a part of the star’s life since she was a child, with her father and ex-husband, Michael Jackson, both dying due to complications from drug use.
Lisa Marie was just nine when she saw her father’s dead body slumped face down on the carpet, as she recalled crying as she said ‘my daddy’s dead’.
His body was not removed from the property following his death in August 1977, which Lisa Marie previously said made it ‘not seem real’ to her – adding it was ‘oddly comforting’.
She was ‘devastated’ when she lost her son Benjamin – who was 27 – in 2020 after he shot himself in an apparent suicide
Lisa Marie had a shotgun wedding to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, just 20 days after she finalized her divorce with Danny Keogh
She has fought to keep her addiction private, but details of her battle for sobriety emerged as she filed paperwork to divorce her fourth husband – musician Michael Lockwood.
Lisa Marie married Danny Keough in 1988 and stayed with him for six years, with the pair sharing daughter Riley and son Benjamin, before marrying Jackson in 1994 and divorcing him just two years later.
She then enjoyed a whirlwind marriage of just 107 days with Nicolas Cage from 2002 to 2004 before wedding Lockwood for ten years between 2006 and 2016 – giving birth to twins Finley and Harper.
The bombshell admitted that her problems with sobriety started in 2003, after years of witnessing those around her struggle.
As a teenager, her problems started with drug abuse before she was put into The Castle- a Scientology center in Hollywood – to get her off the drugs.
She admits to seeing her father taking ‘handfuls of pills’ and remembers his ‘erratic behavior’ towards the end of his life’.
Her foreword continued: ‘It’s a difficult path to overcome this dependence and to put my life back together.
‘Even in recent years, I have seen too many people I loved struggle with addiction and die tragically from this epidemic.
As the only daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, she was quickly thrust into the limelight as a child and has had her fair share of tragedy
Lisa Marie was in tears at the Golden Globes just hours before her collapse, with Austin Butler telling the family ‘I love you forever’
‘It is time for us to say goodbye to shame about addiction. We have to stop blaming and judging ourselves and the people around us. That starts with sharing our stories.’
With four-failed marriages under her belt, Lisa Marie’s troubles started after she found her father dead after a heart attack on the toilet – with his then-girlfriend screaming down the phone.
Lisa Marie was married to Danny Keogh for six years, from October 1988 until May 1994, when she filed for divorce in the Dominican Republic.
Just 20 days after it was finalized Lisa Marie shocked the world by marrying King of Pop Michael Jackson in a shotgun wedding.
The pair became friends quickly after first meeting in 1975 at a concert in Las Vegas, but did not build on their budding relationship until they had dinner with a mutual friend in Los Angeles.
However, their marriage only lasted two years and became quickly overwhelmed with problems – including Jackson being accused of abusing children.
Lisa Marie was married to Danny Keogh for six years, from October 1988 until May 1994, when she filed for divorce in the Dominican Republic. The pair reunited after the death of their son Benjamin in 2020
Lisa Marie Presley was rushed to hospital less than 2 hours after celebrating her father at the Golden Globes with Austin Butler, who brought him back to life for the big screen
She claims that she was ‘sucked into’ believing that Jackson was a ‘misunderstood person,’ and their wedding came a year after Jordan Chandler filed a lawsuit against the signer alleging sexual abuse.
Lisa Marie told Rolling Stone in 2003 that she became obsessed with trying to ‘save’ the star and thought that they could ‘save the world’ together.
Reflecting on the effect the marriage has had on her life and reputation, she said: ‘All I did get out of it was a s**t storm. And I got out of it.’
She said that she was aware of his drug addiction in 1995 – just a year after they tied the knot – after he collapsed on stage while rehearsing for an HBO special concert.
Lisa Marie gave the superstar an ultimatum – choose the drugs or her- with him choosing the drugs over his then-wife.
The star said that she would regularly see her second husband come back from his dermatologist’s office ‘completely out of it’.
Ahead of the Golden Globes, Lisa Marie celebrated her late father’s 88th Birthday with fans outside Graceland – Butler also attended this event
She has fought to keep her addiction private, but details of her battle for sobriety emerged as she filed paperwork to divorce her fourth husband – musician Michael Lockwood
She insists that their marriage was real and not a publicity stunt, often saying she tried to fix in Jackson what she couldn’t with Elvis.
Even after their split the pair stayed close friends, with her flying ‘all over the world’ to be with him after their split.
The last time they spoke was in 2005 just before he went on trial for another molestation allegation.
She said the last time they spoke in 2005 he asked if she still loved him, but they stopped speaking after she said she was ‘indifferent’.
Lisa Marie explained that she was very emotional when she discovered he had died in 2009, saying ‘it was the strangest day of my life.’
She then became engaged to singer John Oszajca, before breaking off their relationship after meeting actor Nicholas Cage.
The two had a marriage that lasted just 108 days – with Cage filing for divorce after they failed to ‘stabilize’ each other’s lives.
Speaking in 2003 she reflected on her relationship with the Hollywood star where she compared them to ‘tyrannical pirates’.
She said: ‘So we connected, we had a great connection. We were both a bit – we’re sort of these gypsy spirited, you know, tyrannical pirates.
‘And one pirate marries another they will sink the ship basically is what it comes down to.
‘It was kind of one of those things where you marry someone hoping… to either stabilize my life or it’s going to, you know, accentuate all that was going on prior to what was problematic. So it kind of did the latter, that’s all.’
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