Many people say Lisa Marie Presley lived a sad life despite being born into the spotlight. As the only child of Elvis Presley and Priscilla, her life was constantly under public scrutiny. But behind the flashing cameras and the Presley name was a woman whose childhood was marked by confusion and her adulthood by heartbreak and grief.
Though she inherited her father’s fame and fortune, Lisa Marie never found peace. From losing Elvis as a child to struggling with identity, failed marriages, and the devastating death of her son, Lisa Marie never fully recovered from all these tragedies until her death.
Lisa Marie Presley did not process her father’s death until towards the end of her life
Lisa Marie adored her father. To her, Elvis wasn’t just a rock-and-roll legend; he was larger than life, almost mythical. She once said she believed her father could control the weather and that his moods shaped the atmosphere around him. When Elvis was happy, the world seemed bright; when he was angry or withdrawn, it felt like a storm was coming. His death left her with a hole no one could fill.
Even Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough, shared that Lisa never truly processed the trauma of losing Elvis. It was only in her final years that she even began to acknowledge it, using words like “trauma” and “grief” for the first time. For Riley, her mother’s pain was so obvious that, as a child, she felt resentment toward Elvis for leaving and causing that ache. Her mother, Priscilla, was a different story. Lisa Marie spoke openly about feeling unwanted growing up. She revealed that her mother hadn’t wanted to gain pregnancy weight and implied she had never felt fully accepted.
Lisa Marie Presley was never the same after her son, Benjamin, died
As she grew older, Lisa Marie struggled to find lasting love. Her relationships always made headlines, from her brief and shocking marriage to Michael Jackson to her more private unions with Danny Keough, Nicolas Cage, and Michael Lockwood. However, many of her marriages ended in public battles and bitter disappointment.
The hardest blow came in 2020, when her son, Benjamin Keough, died by suicide. Lisa Marie was never the same after that. She described the loss as shattering, a pain too deep to express. Though she fought to be strong for her remaining children and for herself, those who knew her said she was never truly whole again. In the end, Lisa Marie faded quietly.