Background:

"It doesn't take much for me to [have] a perfect day. As long as there's not divorce involved in it, I'm fine." (Lisa Marie Presley)

As the celebrated only child of “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” Elvis Presley and the sole heiress of the legendary estate Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley had to work exceptionally hard to develop herself, far away from the shadow of her famed father. After being involved in drugs following the divorce of her parents and the death of her father, Lisa Marie revived and began modeling and singing.

At age 35, she released the debut album To Whom It May Concern (2003), which spawned singles "Lights Out" and "Sinking In." She followed it up with the Parental Advisory-labeled album Now What (2005), which produced songs "Dirty Laundry" and “Idiot.” Both of the albums have gone Gold.

Additionally, Lisa Marie, who has been married for four times, has been in the spotlight for her personal relationships. She gained much publication for her tumultuous marriages with King of Pop Michael Jackson and Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage. The mother of two was also engaged to Hawaiian-born singer-songwriter John Oszajca (they broke their engagement in the spring of 2001). She is now the wife of guitarist and music producer Michael Lockwood.


Little Princess

Childhood and Family:

The only child of celebrity couple Elvis Presley (born on January 8, 1935) and actress Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (born on May 24, 1945), Lisa Marie Presley was born exactly nine months to the day after her parents married, on February 1, 1968. The King’s little Princess, who was often called Injun, Yisa, or Buttonhead by her father, was treated to a life of luxury at the 14-acre estate known as Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. Lisa Marie faced hard time on October 11, 1973, when her parents had a very public divorce. However, a painful tragedy arrived on August 16, 1977, when her father was found dead. She soon became her father’s sole heir and inherited the legendary estate Graceland.

Young Lisa Marie then was trapped with partying, drugs and alcohol. She attended a variety of schools, including John Thomas Dye, Le Lycee Francais (prominent French School in Los Angeles) and The Westside Apple School (Scientology based school). At age 18, she went through Scientology's Purification program (John Travolta allegedly introduced the religion), and has cleaned ever since.

On October 3, 1988, Lisa Marie married musician Danny Keough. They have two children together: daughter Danielle Riley Keough (born May 29, 1989, now a model having worked for Dolce and Gabbana) and son Benjamin Storm Keough (born October 21, 1992). Lisa Marie and Keough divorced in 1988, and two weeks after her divorce became official, Lisa Marie tied the knot with King of Pop Michael Jackson on May 18, 1994 in the Dominican Republic, but their media-scrutinized marriage only lasted for 20 months (they divorced on January 18, 1996). Some reports claimed that Jackson wanted to buy Elvis Presley's catalog, although he already owned several Elvis Presley songs as part of his Sony/ATV Music Publishing company. Other speculations also said that Jackson married Lisa Marie only for publication purposes, and that she married him for his fortune, or to take him into the Church of Scientology.

In an intimate oceanside ceremony on the big island of Hawaii on August 10, 2002, Lisa Marie married for the third time, to Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage, who is popular for his Elvis Presley obsession. Their marriage was short-lived. Lisa Marie and Cage took nearly a year and a half (May 24, 2004) to end a marriage that lasted less than four months. Two years later on January 22, 2006, in Kyoto, Japan, Lisa Marie married her guitarist, Michael Lockwood, in a Japanese-themed ceremony.

Lisa Marie’s mother later recounted the story of their life until Elvis’ death, in the 1985 book, Elvis and Me.


To Whom It May Concern

Career:

"Most people want to be pop stars because they want attention, but I've already had plenty of attention." Lisa Marie Presley.

Raised in a lavish family but probably given little discipline, teen Lisa Marie Presley became involved in drugs while listening to Devo and the Sex Pistols. After being cleared from drugs, she began writing songs, but she hold it back after realizing the pressures of being Elvis Presley's daughter and became busy starting family instead. Her one-time manager Jerry Schilling (one member of Elvis's "Memphis Mafia") also once offered her something with Vanilla Ice, but she turned down immediately.

After her second marriage, Lisa Marie jumped right into modeling and became a considerably powerful businesswoman after taking over Elvis Presley's $150 million estate. She finally met producer Glen Ballard, who urged her to give music another try. Her dark, doomed tunes attracted the attention of the producer who later helped her to land a deal with Capitol Records. Meanwhile, Lisa Marie continued to have another turbulent relationship, this time with actor Nicolas Cage.

Lisa Marie’s debut album, To Whom It May Concern, was initially scheduled for a 2000 release, but it did not appear until the next three years, on April 8, 2003. In order to promote her debut album, Lisa Marie was gearing up for her first full-scale concert tour, singing the album's 11 tracks (some co-written with Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan frontman Billy Corgan) and select covers, which she claimed none will come from the canon of Elvis Presley. She also promoted her debut album by performing in front of 200 people at a London nightclub, which his father never did (Elvis Presley visited Britain only once).

To Whom It May Concern spawned the singles “Lights Out” (about her late and legendary father, in which Lisa Marie sings: “Someone turned the lights out there in Memphis. That's where my family's buried and gone”) and “Sinking In.” Lisa Marie’s children also provided vocal support in the chorus on the track entitled "To Whom It May Concern." The album sold more than 140,000 copies during its first week of release. It was also one of the year's highest debuts, with its number five position on Billboard 200 album chart. In June 2005, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) eventually certified the album gold.

Lisa Marie’s sophomore album, Now What, hit the music stores on April 5, 2005 and went to #9 on the Billboard 200. As of November 2nd 2005, the album that spawned singles “Dirty Laundry” and “Idiot” has received Gold status. Unlike her first album, Now What included a Parental Advisory sticker.

Besides being busy boosting her music career, Lisa Marie has also spent her time for several charities, including Presley Place, which fights homelessness in Memphis, CCHR, a Scientology-connected group against psychiatry and psychiatrists, and LEAP (Literacy, Education and Abilities Program), a Scientology connected group associated with Applied Scholastics that promotes L. Ron Hubbard's studying methods. Lisa Marie was awarded Humanitarian Award in 2002 by the World Literacy Crusade.


Awards:
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