Benjamin Keough

Lisa Marie Presley (born February 1, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. She is the only child of singer and actor Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley, as well as the sole heir to her father's estate. Presley has developed a career in the music business and has issued three albums. She has been married four times, including to singer Michael Jackson and actor Nicolas Cage, and her fourth husband is music producer Michael Lockwood, father of her twin girls.

Early life

Lisa Marie was born on February 1, 1968, to Elvis and Priscilla Presley at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, nine months to the day after her parents' May 1, 1967, wedding. After her parents divorced, she lived with her mother.

When her father died in August 1977, nine-year-old Lisa Marie became joint heir to his estate with her grandfather Vernon Elvis Presley and her great-grandmother Minnie Mae Hood Presley. Following the deaths of Vernon in 1979 and Minnie Mae in 1980, she became the sole heir and inherited Graceland. In 1993, on her 25th birthday, she inherited the estate, which had grown to an estimated $100 million. In 2004, Lisa sold 85% of her father's estate.

In the late 1970s, around a year or two after Elvis' death, she attended her first rock concert when she saw Queen at The Forum in Inglewood, California. She gave Freddie Mercury a scarf of her father's after the show, and expressed her love of theatrics.

Music career

On April 8, 2003, Presley released her debut album, To Whom It May Concern. It reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and was certified gold in June 2003. Presley wrote all the lyrics (except "The Road Between", which was co-written with Gus Black) and co-wrote every melody. To promote it, she presented a concert in the UK. The album's first single, "Lights Out", reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 chart and No. 16 on the UK charts. Presley collaborated with Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins for a co-written track called "Savior", which was included as the B-side.

Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn reviewed Presley's debut album. He said, "The music on her new album has a stark, uncompromising tone" and "Presley's gutsy blues-edged voice has a distinctive flair."

Her second album, released April 5, 2005, Now What, reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Presley co-wrote 10 songs and recorded covers of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" (the album's first single, which hit No. 36 on the Billboard 100 AC singles chart), and the Ramones' "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow". The song "Idiot" is a jab towards different men in her life. Unlike her first album, Now What included a Parental Advisory sticker. Presley covers Blue Öyster Cult's "Burnin' for You" as a B-side. Pink makes a guest appearance on the track "Shine".

Her third album, Storm & Grace, was released on May 15, 2012. She said: "It's much more of a rootsy record, organic record, than my previous work." It is produced by Oscar and Grammy winner T Bone Burnett.

AllMusic offered this view: "On her first two albums, Lisa Marie Presley wanted to be a pop star with a difference; on Storm & Grace, she clearly would rather be an artist, and if she's still working her musical shortcomings out of her system, this is a stronger, more mature, and more effective work than one might have expected. Nearly ten years into a recording career she may or may not have wanted, Presley is finally developing a musical personality that truly suits her."

Spinner.com observed: "Presley has made the strongest album of her career in the upcoming Storm & Grace. It's a moody masterpiece, exploring the demons and angels of her life to the tune of country-spiced downbeat pop."

Entertainment Weekly praised the "smoky, spooky" single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".

Collaborations

Pat Benatar and Lisa Marie Presley performed at the VH1 Divas Duets, a concert to benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 22, 2003, in Las Vegas. Together they sang Benatar's hit "Heartbreaker", which Presley frequently performed at her own concerts on tours afterward.

Also in 2003, Presley contributed a recording of "Silent Night" for the NBC Holiday Collection, Sounds of the Season. Other artists singing on this collection include Kylie Minogue, Coldplay, Michael Bublé, Carly Simon and Bonnie Raitt.

In 2006 a documentary about Johnny Ramone of the rock group the Ramones was released called Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone. Directed by Mandy Stein, the film shows Deborah Harry, the Dickies, X, Eddie Vedder, Lisa Marie and Red Hot Chili Peppers as they stage a benefit concert to celebrate the Ramones' 30th anniversary and to raise money for cancer research.

In August 2007, the single "In the Ghetto" was released. Elvis Presley had originally released the single in 1969. In the new version, Lisa "duets" with her father. The video, simultaneously released with the single, reached No. 1 on the iTunes sales and No. 16 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart. The song was recorded to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of her father's death. Lisa Marie said she decided not only to sing, but to sing with him. "I wanted to use this for something good," she told Spinner, so she filmed the video in New Orleans. Proceeds from the video and single benefited a new Presley Place Transitional Housing Campus there. Lisa Marie appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to perform the song with the Harlem Gospel Choir, using vintage footage of her father.

In October 2009, she joined singer Richard Hawley on stage in London. She sang vocals on a song the pair had been working on called "Weary". Hawley wants to help Presley relaunch her music career, and the two have embarked on a songwriting partnership in which Lisa writes the lyrics and Hawley the music. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Presley said that she was currently recording a new album in London due to be released in 2011.

T-Bone Burnett said of collaborating with Presley on Storm & Grace (2012): "When songs from Lisa Marie Presley showed up at my door, I was curious. I wondered what the daughter of an American revolutionary music artist had to say. What I heard was honest, raw, unaffected and soulful. I thought her father would be proud of her. The more I listened to the songs, the deeper an artist I found her to be. Listening beyond the media static, Lisa Marie Presley is a Southern American folk music artist of great value."

Music videos

Presley appeared in Michael Jackson's 'You Are Not Alone' video in June 1995, directed by Wayne Isham.

In 1997, Lisa Marie made a video of "Don't Cry Daddy" as a duet with her father. This video was presented on August 16, 1997, at the tribute concert that marked the 20th anniversary of Elvis' death. The video has Elvis' original vocal to which new instrumentation and Lisa Marie's vocals were added; the recording was not for commercial use. The song created a renewed interest in her as a recording artist.

Lisa Marie's video for her debut single "Lights Out" premiered in February 2003. Directed by Francis Lawrence, the video was from her album To Whom It May Concern. Her second video from that album was directed by Barnaby Roper and shot in New York for the song "Sinking In".

On Presley's second album in 2005, her first single and video was for a cover of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry". The video was directed by Patrick Hoelck and singer George Michael made a cameo appearance in it. Hoelck teamed with Lisa Marie for her second video from that album for the song "Idiot" and shot the video in downtown Los Angeles. Through the video Lisa follows a woman through the streets. We never see her face until the end, when she gets in a cab with Lisa, putting her face to face with another version of herself.

Presley teamed up again with director Tony Kaye (American History X) for the video of "In the Ghetto." Lisa Marie Presley filmed the video 'In the Ghetto', featuring her late father Elvis, in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. All proceeds from the video and single went to benefit a new Presley Place transitional housing campus there. "I wanted to use this for something good," Lisa Marie told Spinner of the posthumous duet.

In 2006 Presley was asked to take part in a video of Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down". Rick Rubin produced the record and Tony Kaye directed the video which featured Lisa Marie Presley, Iggy Pop, Kanye West, Chris Martin, Kris Kristofferson, Dixie Chicks, Flea, Chris Rock, Kid Rock, Justin Timberlake, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Bono, Shelby Lynne, Jay-Z, Amy Lee, Keith Richards and Johnny Depp and won a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.

Charity work and humanitarian efforts

The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation (EPCF) was formed by Graceland/Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. in 1984 to continue Elvis' own tradition of generosity and community service and to honor his memory. The EPCF is overseen by Lisa Marie Presley, chairperson, and the management team of Graceland/Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. In 2001, Presley Place opened to its first residents. Presley Place provides homeless families up to one year of rent-free housing, child day care, career and financial counseling, family management guidance and other tools to help them break the cycle of poverty and regain self-esteem and independence. Also funded by the EPCF is the Elvis Presley Music Room, where the youngsters of Presley Place and others may enjoy access to musical instruments and instruction and participate in special related programs. The EPCF created the Elvis Presley Endowed Scholarship Fund at the College of Communication & Fine Arts at the University of Memphis to assist students majoring in areas of the arts. "All of us with the EPCF and Elvis Presley Enterprises are extremely proud of this amazing facility," stated Presley. "The work that MIFA (the Memphis-based Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association) does truly has an impact on peoples' lives and we look forward to this collaboration."

Presley joined Oprah Winfrey and her Angel Network and was active in the relief efforts after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and surrounding areas. Presley gave a helping hand in Memphis, Tennessee. "I'm here," she said, "because I definitely needed to do something, and it just so happens this is where I'm from. I'm going to do everything I can. People need help—this is a huge catastrophe and everyone needs to stand up." Her first stop was a food bank, where, with the help of FedEx and Kroger, Lisa Marie loaded a truck with groceries. Then it was time for a pit stop at Target for toiletries and clothes. "I thought I was going to grab a couple things at the store," Presley said, "and I ended up filling up a truck. I went a little crazy." Presley's final destination was the Grand Casino Convention Center in Mississippi to distribute the supplies to people who had lost everything. One evacuee said, "I really appreciate everything Ms. Presley is doing for us. We have nothing, so we're very grateful for everything she's doing".

In 2011, Presley became a patron of the Dream Factory, a charity based in Hainault. Presley was one of the celebrity guests at the Snowball held at the Prince Regent in Chigwell in aid of the Dream Factory. Actors Ray Winstone and Sid Owen, who are both patrons of the charity, and Amanda Redman were also among guests at the star-studded event, which raised $59,000 towards granting the wishes of terminally ill children and those with life-threatening illnesses or disabilities. Organizer Avril Mills said: "We have granted 83 dreams in under three years, so the money is going to go towards a lot more dreams. It costs between $500 and $5,000 for a dream. Lisa Marie Presley was very nice and she now wants to become a patron of the charity. We talked about the charity and she brought a big framed picture of Elvis, which she got flown over for the Dream Factory from Graceland, and that raised $5,000."

Furthermore, during the time she traveled with Michael Jackson while he was on tour, she visited orphanages and hospitals with him around the world. She visited with the children, and she and Jackson would hand out toys to all of the children.

Grammy Foundation

On June 6, 2004, Presley was on hand as the Grammy Foundation, in partnership with 7-UP, named Long Beach Polytechnic High School a Gold Grammy Signature School at Scottish Rite Cathedral in Long Beach, California. Created in 1998, the GRAMMY Signature Schools program recognizes top U.S. public high schools that are making an outstanding commitment to music education during an academic school year. Presley presented the custom award and a monetary grant to benefit the school's music program. On October 22, 2005, Presley presented a special award to Isaac Hayes at the Memphis Recording Academy Honors. A host of hometown stars gathered to see Presley, Justin Timberlake, Isaac Hayes and David Porter honored by the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy. Presley and music producer Jimmy Jam presented the award to Hayes.

On November 11, 2005, Presley participated in a Grammy SoundCheck at L.A.'s House of Blues, during which she and other industry professionals met with a group of music students to discuss career opportunities available to them within the music industry.

Awards and honors

On June 24, 2011, Presley was officially honored by the Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, who proclaimed a day of recognition for her in recognition of her charitable efforts.

On June 26, 2011, Presley was issued a Certificate of Proclamation by Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu in recognition of her dedication and contributions to the city of New Orleans.

As stated in a proclamation received from the City of Memphis on June 28, 2011:

"Lisa Marie Presley is a humanitarian and philanthropist who continues to focus her efforts on the hometown she knows and loves, Memphis. Through her efforts and time she has improved homelessness, literacy, and raised funds for local charities and organizations. She raises awareness for Memphis and continues to set an example of what one person can do when they put their mind to it.

"Now, Therefore, I, A.C. Wharton, Jr., Mayor of Memphis, TN, do hereby recognize the lifelong service of this illustrious humanitarian and philanthropist."

Personal life

She and her family live in San Francisco, California, US. Between 2010 and 2016 they lived in a 15th-century manor house in Rotherfield, East Sussex, UK, 15 miles east of Saint Hill Manor, the British headquarters of the Church of Scientology. In a 2013 interview with Luka Neskovic for The Huffington Post, Presley said that maybe one day she will write an autobiography, stating: "It's not out of the question. I would like to have my life out there in my own words, rather than speculations." In 2005, Lisa Marie allowed a brief look into her personal life, appearing in the TV movie, Elvis by the Presleys. Her son Benjamin Keough died on July 12, 2020 at the age of 27 in Calabasas, California.

Relationships

Presley married Chicago-born musician Danny Keough on October 3, 1988. They had two children: a daughter, Danielle Riley Keough (born May 29, 1989), an actress and model known by her middle name, and a son, Benjamin Storm Keough (October 21, 1992 – July 12, 2020). Presley obtained a quickie divorce in the Dominican Republic on May 6, 1994.

Keough is a bass guitar player in Presley's band, and also serves as her musical mentor. Lisa Marie Presley still regards him as a close friend, and he lives in the guest house on Presley's property. Presley described her relationship with Keough after they separated: "I don't know how, but we've managed to stay close ... There's others that I have pain or betrayal associated with that I won't have anything to do with. But he and I had a special thing. Unconditional." In a 2003 interview with The Commercial Appeal, Presley commented on reports that she and Keough were planning to remarry: "Danny is my best friend, always has been, always will be. I love him unconditionally, but we are not together. It's not like that." Keough and Presley became closer after Presley divorced Michael Jackson. Keough's younger brother Thomas Keough had been an official witness at Presley's marriage to Michael Jackson.

Twenty days after her divorce from Keough, Presley married singer Michael Jackson. They had first met in 1975 when a seven-year-old Presley attended several of his concerts in Las Vegas. According to a friend of Presley's, "their adult friendship began in November 1992 in L.A." As child molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on Lisa for emotional support. She was concerned about his faltering health and his addiction to drugs. Lisa explained, "I believed he didn't do anything wrong, and that he was wrongly accused and, yes, I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it." Shortly afterwards, she tried to persuade Jackson to settle the allegations out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover. He subsequently did both. In January 1996, citing irreconcilable differences, Lisa Marie filed for divorce, according to legal papers. Michael Jackson had originally planned to file for divorce first. However, after Presley begged him not to file, Jackson caved in only to discover on the front page the next day that Presley had filed for divorce. In an October 2010 interview with talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, Presley revealed that she and Jackson had spent four years on and off following their divorce together in an attempt to reconcile, and that she had traveled to different parts of the world in order to be with him.

Presley was engaged in 2000 to rocker John Oszajca. She broke off the engagement after meeting Nicolas Cage at a party. Presley's third marriage was to Cage. They were married on August 10, 2002. Cage filed for divorce on November 25, 2002, and the divorce was finalized in 2004.

Presley married for a fourth time on January 22, 2006, to Michael Lockwood, her guitarist, music producer and director. Keough served as best man at the couple's wedding, held in Japan. In March 2008, Presley announced that she was pregnant, following speculation over her apparent weight gain. Her husband was a first-time father. On October 7, 2008, Presley gave birth to fraternal twin girls, Harper Vivienne Ann and Finley Aaron Love, via Caesarean section at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California.The twins weighed 5 pounds 2 ounces (2.3 kg) and 5 lb 15 oz (2.7 kg), respectively. In 2016, Presley filed for divorce from Lockwood after ten years of marriage. In February 2017, Presley said that her daughters were taken into protective custody and she opposed Lockwood's request for spousal support, claiming that she had found hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on his personal computer.

Scientology

Lisa Marie Presley was brought into the Church of Scientology in 1977 by her mother, Priscilla.

In October 1997, Presley, along with friend and fellow Memphian and Scientologist Isaac Hayes, opened the Literacy, Education and Ability Program (LEAP). LEAP is run by Applied Scholastics, a group run by Scientologists.

On January 5, 2002, Presley received the Humanitarian Award from the Church of Scientology-supported World Literacy Crusade for her efforts to help children across America learn valuable skills for study and improve their lives. Presley received her award from Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan and Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. World Literacy Crusade is regarded by critics as a front group for the Church of Scientology. On September 26 of that same year Presley addressed a Congressional hearing in opposition to the use of medication in treating ADHD, stating: "I have spoken to children who have been forced to take a cocaine-like stimulant to control their behavior; I have shared their sense of sheer desperation. Children have been wrenched from their family's care simply because their parents favored an alternative, drug-free approach to addressing educational and behavioral problems. The psychotropic drugging of millions of children has to stop." These views reflected her beliefs as a Scientologist. Addressing the Committee as the International Spokesperson for Children's Rights, for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a group run by Scientologists, Presley expressed her view that parents should be informed about alternatives to drugs so they may "make an informed choice about their child's educational and medical needs".

Presley officially defected from the church in 2016, though she had been experiencing growing discontent with Scientology as far back as 2008.

Elvis Presley estate

After Elvis Presley's death at Graceland on August 16, 1977, his will appointed his father, Vernon Presley, executor and trustee. His fortune had dwindled to $5 million. The beneficiaries of the trust were Vernon, Elvis' grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, and his nine-year-old daughter Lisa Marie Presley, whose inheritance was to be held in trust until her 25th birthday. After Vernon's death in 1979, Elvis' former wife Priscilla Presley was named as one of three trustees in his will; the others were the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis and Joseph Hanks, who had been the Presleys' accountant. With Minnie Mae Presley's death in 1980, Lisa became the only surviving beneficiary named in her father's will.

On her 25th birthday in 1993, Presley inherited her father's estate, which, thanks largely to the stewardship of her mother, had grown to an estimated $100 million.

In 1998, Presley became more closely involved in the management of the Elvis Presley Trust and its business entity, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE). She was owner and Chairman of the Board until February 2005, when she sold 85% of the estate's business holdings to CKX, Inc., excluding Graceland itself and the property within it.

"Elvis Through His Daughter's Eyes" exhibit

In February 2012, Presley opened a new exhibit, "Elvis ... Through His Daughter's Eyes". It is now included in the Graceland VIP Tour and features 200 items assembled by Presley and the Graceland Archives staff.

The personal exhibit looks at Presley's experience of growing up with a famous father. Home movies, toys and rarely seen family mementos are among the items on display.

Aircraft Lisa Marie

In November 1975, her father named one of his private aircraft, a converted Convair 880 jet (original passenger capacity: 100), after her. He spent more than $1,000,000 refurbishing it to use as his main transport while on tour. The Lisa Marie and one of his other planes, Hound Dog II, are on exhibit at Graceland. In January 2015 it was reported that both planes were for sale. They are no longer airworthy, but their owner was hoping to sell them for $10M in total. The buyer would have an option to purchase land adjacent to Graceland to exhibit them independently from Graceland. In the end, EPE bought them back and they continue to be on exhibit.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Tours

• S.O.B. Tour (2003–04)
• Now What Tour (2005–06)
• Storm & Grace Tour (2012–14)

References and notes