Legendary singer Elvis Presley’s daughter, singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley passed away on January 12, aged 54. According to sources, the singer was hospitalised in Los Angeles on Thursday. Her mother Priscilla Presley confirmed the news, a few hours after Lisa was taken to the hospital due to a medical emergency at home.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us. 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,” Priscilla said in a statement.
Lisa, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, shared her father's brooding charisma — the hooded eyes, the insolent smile, the low, sultry voice — and followed him professionally, releasing her own rock albums in the 2000s, and appearing on stage with Pat Benatar and Richard Hawley among others.
She even formed direct musical ties with her father, joining her voice to Elvis recordings such as In the Ghetto and Don't Cry Daddy, a mournful ballad which had reminded him of the early death of his mother (and Lisa Marie's grandmother), Gladys Presley.
Lisa attended the Golden Globes on Tuesday, to celebrate Austin Butler’s award for playing her father in Elvis. She called his performance “mind-blowing” during a red-carpet interview. Just days before that, she was in Memphis, Tennessee, at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived — to celebrate her father’s birth anniversary on January. 8.
Her birth, nine months exactly after her parent's wedding, was international news. With the release of Baz Luhrmann's musical feature, Elvis, Lisa and Priscilla had been attending red carpets and award shows alongside stars from the film.
Lisa lived with her mother, an actor known for films like Dallas and Naked Gun, in California after her parents split up in 1973. According to sources, she recalled early memories of her father during her visits to Graceland, riding golf carts through the neighbourhood and seeing his daily entrances down the stairs. Elvis Presley passed away in August 1977, when he was 42, and Lisa was nine years old. She was staying at Graceland at the time.
Later, Lisa also became involved in numerous humanitarian causes, from anti-poverty programs administered through the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation to relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. She received formal citations from New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee for her work.
Lisa had two children, actor Riley Keough, born in 1989, and Benjamin Keough, born in 1992, with her former husband Danny Keough. She also had twin daughters, Harper and Finley Lockwood, with ex-husband Michael Lockwood in 2008.