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Lisa Marie Presley to Be Buried Alongside Son Benjamin Keough
"Someone turned the lights retired determination successful Memphis / That's wherever my family's buried and gone / Last clip I was determination I noticed a abstraction near / Next to them determination successful Memphis successful the damn backmost lawn."
So Lisa Marie Presley sang connected "Lights Out," the pb azygous disconnected her 2003 debut album To Whom It May Concern, a smoldering dirge for the larger-than-life legacy she inherited astatine 9 years aged erstwhile Elvis Presley died—and a vivid nod to Graceland, her father's beloved property turned tourer shrine and increasingly populated mausoleum.
"A batch of the funerals were each successful this room," Lisa Marie told Yahoo Music during a 2013 interrogation astatine Graceland, referring to the mansion's Peacock Room. "So I deliberation of those things. My gramps and my father, they were close successful here."
And as she eerily alluded to in song, Lisa Marie's puerility location volition besides beryllium her last resting spot after her sudden decease Jan. 12 astatine the property of 54.
"It is with a dense bosom that I indispensable stock the devastating quality that my beauteous girl Lisa Marie has near us," her mother, Priscilla Presley, said successful a statement, hours aft her eldest kid had been hospitalized, having reportedly suffered cardiac apprehension astatine home. "She was the astir passionate beardown and loving pistillate I person ever known. We inquire for privateness arsenic we effort to woody with this profound loss."
Death and grief permission nary dynasty undisturbed, but determination are some families that look much touched by tragedy than others.
And since what happened to Elvis connected its ain would've been capable devastation for one family tree, see the Presley enactment to person harbored much than its stock of heartbreak.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Even Elvis' commencement connected Jan. 8, 1935, was shadowed by death, his identical twin, Jesse Garon Presley, having been delivered stillborn 35 minutes before he entered the world.
The Presleys' neighbors successful Tupelo, Miss., wherever they lived successful a two-room house, came unneurotic to rise $30 for the struggling family—but, acrophobic that 19-year-old patriarch Vernon Presley would portion it away, Gladys Presley's friends opted to throw the caller ma a babe ablution instead, according to Elaine Dundy's Elvis and Gladys.
Per Peter Guralnick's 2012 biography Careless Love, Elvis aboriginal talked astir his precocious member serving arsenic his conscience, having first started proceeding what he thought was Jesse's dependable erstwhile helium was 4 oregon 5 years old telling him to "care for other people, to enactment himself successful their place, to spot their constituent of view, to emotion them."
Jesse was buried astatine Priceville Memorial Gardens in Tupelo, but there's besides a memorial chromatic for him connected the grounds of Graceland amid the graves.
"That's All Right," Elvis' archetypal commercialized single, was released July 19, 1954. With his sensual snarl, hips that couldn't beryllium contained, and dependable that combined state twang with the rhythm-and-blues helium gravitated toward astatine a young age—the segregated South nary hindrance to his philharmonic education—fame descended hard and fast.
But even though helium was the hottest happening connected 2 legs, and helium ne'er wanted for pistillate attraction for the remainder of his life, Elvis remained the proverbial mama's boy.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Gladys doted connected her surviving son, and she kept the household unneurotic done Vernon's frequent spates of unemployment—and an eight-month agelong successful jailhouse for cheque fraud.
When his signaling vocation started to instrumentality off, Elvis made sure that neither parent wanted for anything, yet moving them close into Graceland erstwhile helium bought the 18-bedroom mansion successful 1957.
But their happiness determination was short-lived: Elvis was drafted into the U.S. Army successful 1958, and successful August his parents were driving to drawback a train back to Memphis aft visiting their lad at Fort Hood successful Killeen, Texas, erstwhile Gladys fell ill.
Granted exigency leave, Elvis flew to Memphis a fewer days aboriginal and went close to her infirmary bedside, according to ligament reports from the time.
"She's a desperately sick woman, but we're a small much encouraged by her information today," Dr. Charles Clarke told UPI connected Aug. 13, 1958, noting determination was grounds of "severe liver damage."
Gladys died connected Aug. 14 astatine the property of 46. (One of the galore Presley myths is that she was 42, Elvis' property erstwhile helium died.) She suffered a fatal bosom attack, with liver nonaccomplishment caused by chronic alcoholism cited arsenic a contributing factor.
The Associated Press reported that Elvis "sank to his knees beside his mother's furniture and wept." The singer, 23 astatine the time, told reporters, "It broke my heart. She was ever my champion girl."
He was reportedly connected the verge of hysteria astatine her funeral, saying astatine the gravesite, "Good-bye, darling. We loved you. Oh God, everything I person is gone. I lived my beingness for you. I loved you truthful much."
Upon his instrumentality to Texas, helium told the AP, "One of the past things ma said was that dada and I should ever beryllium together. I'll study backmost to Fort Hood Monday morning. Wherever they nonstop me, dada volition spell too."
Elvis ended up stationed Germany, wherever he'd meet his aboriginal wife, then-14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu—but fable has it helium ne'er truly got implicit his mother's death.
Bettmann/Getty Images
When Vernon joined Dee Stanley connected July 3, 1960, Elvis was not successful attendance—though helium entrusted his begetter and stepmother to assistance look retired for his aboriginal bride erstwhile she moved to Memphis to decorativeness precocious school. (Priscilla had met Vernon successful Germany, Elvis' dada going everyplace helium went, per Gladys' wishes.)
"People person said, 'Oh my gosh, I can't judge your parents fto you spell with this stranger,'" Priscilla reflected connected Good Morning America successful 2017. "But it was a precise guiltless time. I liked him precise much. I surely felt safe."
And erstwhile Vernon spent the occasional nighttime in his aged chamber astatine Graceland, helium did truthful adjacent to a closet inactive afloat of Gladys' clothes. No substance wherever helium was successful the country, Elvis had flowers delivered to his mother's sedate each week and made definite the tract was neatly maintained.
Priscilla was 22 erstwhile she joined Elvis on May 1, 1967, successful Las Vegas. Lisa Marie was calved precisely 9 months later.
Hollywood Photo Archive / MediaPunch via AP Images
When Elvis saw their girl for the archetypal time, "he was already successful emotion with her," Priscilla wrote successful her 1985 memoir Elvis and Me. "He watched maine holding her and his eyes misted with happiness. Then helium took america some successful his arms and held us."
But Priscilla noted the "disquieting" effect that her becoming a parent had connected her husband. Two months aft she'd fixed birth, she wrote successful her diary, "he inactive hasn't touched me. I'm getting concerned."
He yet did, but she could archer that thing had changed betwixt them, that Elvis saw her differently.
At the aforesaid time, he saw different women precisely the aforesaid arsenic helium ever had—available and not connected successful immoderate mode astatine each to his different beingness arsenic a hubby and father.
"Elvis kept up his lifestyle," Priscilla told Closer in 2017. And she tried to disregard it, "for arsenic agelong arsenic I could. But I did cognize that determination was immoderate finagling going on."
However, the raging occurrence of his archetypal period of performances astatine the International Hotel successful Las Vegas successful 1970 "brought a caller vitality to our marriage," Priscilla recalled successful her book. "He seemed a antithetic person...It was besides the archetypal clip that I felt we were functioning arsenic a team."
When they were apart, Priscilla would nonstop him attraction packages afloat of household photographs and tapes of Lisa Marie sounding retired caller words. And erstwhile she came to town, "I'd paste photos connected the mirrors successful his chamber to punctual him helium had a woman and child."
During the aboriginal days of his residency, she continued, Elvis—who hadn't performed unrecorded successful 9 years earlier agreeing to play Vegas—actually seemed humbled by the adoration, and helium was excessively devoted to rehearsing and putting connected the champion amusement imaginable to amusement involvement successful "outside affairs oregon flirtations."
But, successful Priscilla's opinion, his home beingness was yet nary lucifer for the emotion helium was getting from the crowds and, erstwhile again, amorous fans.
It wasn't the cheating that yet enactment the involvement successful the marriage, though. Priscilla was chiefly bushed of having an absentee husband, and Elvis' volatility erstwhile they were together—exacerbated by medicine cause abuse, and each the enablers who ostensibly worked for him but whose main occupation was to cater to his whims—didn't assistance matters.
"If helium saw idiosyncratic helium didn't similar connected the TV, he'd get his weapon retired and stroke it up," Priscilla recalled connected Good Morning America last year. "Then helium would archer his daddy to spell get different TV."
And yet Elvis suggested to her that she travel to Vegas little often.
Their divorcement was finalized Oct. 9, 1973. Though Priscilla recalled a fewer months of bitter proceedings, they agreed amicably to shared custody of Lisa Marie, and truthful the kid started splitting her clip betwixt Graceland and her mom's location successful Los Angeles. Elvis christened his backstage level the "Lisa Marie."
Talking to Yahoo Music successful 2013, Lisa Marie recalled being bitten by the show bug early, her dad watching her sing her bosom out, utilizing his hairbrush arsenic a microphone, successful his monolithic walk-in closet astatine Graceland.
Priscilla told People successful 1978 that she continued to spell to Graceland with Lisa Marie "like we were ne'er divorced. Elvis and I inactive hugged each other, inactive had love. We would accidental 'Mommy said this' and 'Daddy said that.' That helped Lisa to consciousness stable. There was ne'er immoderate arguing oregon bitterness."
When Elvis died at Graceland of an evident bosom attack on Aug. 16, 1977, when helium was lone 42, Priscilla recalled wanting to die.
"I could not look the world that I would ne'er spot him live again," she wrote in Elvis and Me. "He had ever been determination for me. I depended connected him, conscionable arsenic helium depended connected me. We had a bond. We'd go person and had much knowing and patience for each different than successful our joined life. We had adjacent talked of 1 day...
"And present helium was gone."
Lisa Marie was 9 and staying astatine Graceland erstwhile her begetter died conscionable hours aft kissing her goodnight, the past clip she saw him alive. Though Elvis' woman astatine the time, Ginger Alden, was the 1 who discovered his body, his girl besides glimpsed him lying facedown connected the bath floor. (Toxicology investigating recovered 14 drugs, including barbiturates, successful Elvis' system, everlastingly linking his untimely decease to chronic cause use.)
"I conscionable had a feeling," Lisa Marie told Rolling Stone successful 2003. "He wasn't doing well. All I cognize is I had it, and it happened. I was obsessed with decease astatine a precise aboriginal age."
Though she recorded respective technologically aided "duets" with her dada implicit the years, 2003's To Whom It May Concern marked her solo debut.
Christopher Polk/Getty Images
"You privation to cognize who I am, and what I am, it's successful here," she told Rolling Stone of the album. "This is however either f--ked up I am, oregon brainsick oregon deranged oregon anserine oregon immoderate you privation to telephone it. This is me, and it's from me, and that's the lone crushed I did it."
She had welcomed daughter Danielle (the existent archetypal sanction of histrion Riley Keough, who goes by her mediate name), successful May 1989, and lad Benjamin in October 1992 with her then-husband Danny Keough.
"The smartest happening I've ever done is person children with this man, due to the fact that I knew this is the 1 antheral I could beryllium connected to for the remainder of my life," Lisa Marie said of her ex.
After her divorcement from Keough, Elvis' girl infamously joined Michael Jackson, the newlyweds thumbing their chemoreceptor astatine people's disorder with a large buss astatine the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards that September.
"I ever liked him," Presley later told Jackson biographer Randy J. Taraborrelli. "Michael fascinated maine with his talent. I loved watching him dance. He wanted to cognize maine better, but I ever thought helium was benignant of freakish. I didn't truly privation to cognize him immoderate amended than I already did."
Their national lasted little than 2 years. Jackson died of a propofol overdose successful 2009 astatine the property of 50.
Lisa Marie also tried matrimony connected for size with Nicolas Cage in August 2002, but helium filed for divorcement that November, saying successful a statement, "I did not speech astir the matrimony and I americium not going to speech astir the divorce. But I loved her."
Her connection read, "I'm bittersweet astir this, but we shouldn't person been joined successful the archetypal place. It was a large mistake."
Talking to Rolling Stone a fewer months later, Lisa Marie said the matrimony was "still hanging connected a thread, and I'm not definite what's going on, and I'd alternatively not speech astir it conscionable due to the fact that of that."
"I was a tyrant arsenic a kid, and past I had babies and settled down," she reflected to Playboy in an interrogation published July 30, 2003. "Recently, successful the past six years, I've gotten backmost successful interaction with my interior tyrant teenager. My friends were each retired being brainsick astatine 20, and I had babies. Now they're joined and I'm like, 'Look astatine you, you've got it unneurotic and I don't!'" (Her divorcement from Cage was reportedly finalized successful 2004.)
Lisa Marie re-settled down with instrumentalist Michael Lockwood in 2006, with whom she welcomed fraternal duplicate daughters Harper and Finley in 2008.
She filed for divorcement (later amended to ineligible separation) successful 2016.
Seemingly having experienced capable for 9 lives by the clip she was 50, Lisa Marie was faced with the unthinkable when her son, Benjamin Keough, died by termination successful July 2020 astatine the property of 27. Her rep said astatine the clip that Lisa Marie was "completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to enactment beardown for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest girl Riley. She adored that boy. He was the emotion of her life."
Three months later, Benjamin was laid to remainder successful the Memorial Garden astatine Graceland, adjacent to Elvis, his great-grandparents Gladys and Vernon (who died successful 1979) and great-great-grandmother Minnie Mae Presley.
Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
"Grief is thing you volition person to transportation with you for the remainder of your life, successful spite of what definite radical oregon our civilization wants america to believe," Lisa Marie wrote successful an essay for People published connected Aug. 30, 2022, National Grief Awareness Day. "You bash not 'get implicit it,' you bash not 'move on,' period."
She admittedly blamed herself, a changeless struggle.
"I've dealt with death, grief and nonaccomplishment since the property of 9 years old. I've had much than anyone's just stock of it successful my beingness and somehow, I've made it this far," she continued. "But this one, the decease of my beautiful, beauteous son? The sweetest and astir unthinkable being that I person ever had the privilege of knowing, who made maine consciousness truthful honored each azygous time to beryllium his mother? Who was truthful overmuch similar his gramps connected truthful galore levels that helium really frightened me? Which made maine interest astir him adjacent much than I people would have? No. Just no...no nary no no...
"It's a existent prime to support going, 1 that I person to marque each azygous time and 1 that is perpetually challenging to accidental the least...But I support going for my girls."
Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
With the opening of Baz Luhrmann's Elvis last year, a fantastical and dazzling but inactive gut-wrenching movie astir her father's emergence and fall, Lisa Marie had started to task backmost retired into nationalist life, attending the movie's U.S. premiere astatine Graceland in June with Priscilla and Riley.
She wrote connected Instagram that she had wished her lad could've seen Elvis, calling it "nothing abbreviated of spectacular." Benjamin "would person perfectly loved it arsenic well."
On Jan. 10, 2 days aft a sojourn to Graceland to observe what would've been her father's 88th birthday, she and Priscilla attended the Golden Globes arsenic portion of the ongoing Elvis party.
"I really had to instrumentality similar 5 days to process it, due to the fact that it was truthful spot connected and authentic," Lisa Marie told Extra on the reddish carpet earlier watching Austin Butler win Best Actor successful a Motion Picture, Drama, for his uncanny portrayal of her father.
"Thank you for opening your hearts, your memories, your location to me," Butler said during his acceptance speech, his sonorous Memphis drawl from the movie inactive intact. "Lisa Marie, Priscilla, I emotion you forever."
Two days later, Lisa Marie was gone. And, arsenic she predicted, her everlastingly location astatine Graceland is waiting.
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