Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ only child, dies at 54

LOS ANGELES — Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of rock icon Elvis Presley, died Thursday in Southern California, her mother said.

She was 54.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

Presley is set to be interred at Graceland, next to her late son Benjamin Keough, who died in 2020, a representative of her daughter, actor Riley Keough, told NBC News on Friday.

“Lisa Marie’s final resting place will be at Graceland, next to her beloved son Ben,” the rep said. 

Lisa Marie’s Presley father, Elvis, is also buried at Graceland, the rock icon’s famed Memphis mansion and shrine.

“Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie,” according to a statement by Graceland.

“They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

Hours before the announcement of Lisa Marie Presley’s passing, Priscilla Presley said that her daughter had been rushed to the hospital.

Deputies and Los Angeles County fire personnel went to a home in Calabasas late Thursday morning after they received a call about a woman not breathing, officials said.

Responders were able to find a pulse, and she was transported by ambulance, officials said.

Her father’s legacy gained renewed interest last year through the movie “Elvis,” which chronicled his meteoric rise to fame and struggles with his controlling manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Austin Butler, who played the title character, won the award for best performance by an actor in a movie at Tuesday’s Golden Globes.

Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley were both at the Beverly Hilton to see Butler win that award.

Lisa Marie was a singer who released her own rock albums in the 2000s and forever influenced by her legendary father.

“It’s been all my life,” she told the AP in 2012, speaking of her father’s influence. “It’s not something that I now listen to and it’s different. Although I might listen closer. I remain consistent on the fact that I’ve always been an admirer. He’s always influenced me.”

She even formed direct musical ties with her father, joining her voice to such Elvis recordings as “In the Ghetto” and “Don’t Cry Daddy,” a mournful ballad that had reminded him of the early death of his mother (and Lisa Marie’s grandmother), Gladys Presley.

Elvis Presley died in August 1977. Lisa Marie was a 9-year-old staying at Graceland, his home in Memphis, Tennessee, and said that when he kissed her good night she “just had a feeling.”

When she next saw him, the following day, he was facedown in the bathroom.

“All I know is I had it [a feeling], and it happened,” she told Rolling Stone in 2003. “I was obsessed with death at a very early age.”

Lisa Marie Presley was married four times, most famously to Michael Jackson, as well as to Nicolas Cage, Danny Keough and Michael Lockwood.

She had two children, actor Riley Keough and Benjamin Keough, with Keough. She also had twin daughters with Lockwood.

Benjamin Keough died by suicide in 2020.

Presley was vocal about her grief over losing her son, writing in an essay in August that she had “been living in the horrific reality of its unrelenting grips since my son’s death two years ago.”

“I’ve dealt with death, grief and loss since the age of 9 years old. I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime and somehow, I’ve made it this far,” she wrote in the essay shared with People magazine.

Diana Dasrath reported from Los Angeles and David K. Li reported from New York.