Lisa Marie Presley dies at 54 after suffering cardiac arrest, family says

Lisa Marie Presley, singer and only child of Elvis, has died at 54 after being hospitalized for cardiac arrest, her mother Priscilla Presley said.

“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 Thursday evening.  “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

Presley was taken to hospital Thursday after suffering full cardiac arrest, multiple news outlets are reporting. Presley’s mother, Pricilla Presley, also confirmed she was in the hospital and receiving care.

A police spokesperson told Entertainment Tonight that police were called to Presley’s Los Angeles home Thursday morning. When they arrived, they found paramedics working on Presley, 54, who was experiencing cardiac arrest.

The spokesperson confirmed that paramedics were able to help Presley regain a pulse before she was taken to a nearby hospital.

According to Craig Little, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department, paramedics were dispatched to a Calabasas home at 10:37 a.m. following the report of a woman in full cardiac arrest. Property records indicate Presley was a resident at that address.

Paramedics arrived about six minutes later and Presley was taken by ambulance to the hospital, Little said. Her condition was not immediately available.

The city of Calabasas is nestled between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains about 50 kilometres northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

TMZ, which first reported the news, said paramedics performed CPR.

The songwriter’s health emergency comes just two days after Presley – the daughter of Priscilla Presley and the late Elvis Presley – attended the Golden Globe Awards to watch Austin Butler win the award for Best Performance in a Motion Picture (Drama) for his role as the late King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

She praised the actor’s portrayal, telling ET that after watching the biopic, “I didn’t really know what to do with myself.”

“I had to take, like, five days to process it because it was so incredible and so spot-on and just so authentic that, yeah, I can’t even describe what it meant.”

Just days before that, she was in Memphis, Tennessee, at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived — to celebrate her father’s birth anniversary on Jan. 8.

Presley had recently penned an essay published in People about “the horrific reality” of her grief following her son Benjamin Keough’s death by suicide in 2020. Presley is also the mother of actor Riley Keough and twin daughters.

“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 August.

Presley released her own rock albums in the 2000s and appeared on stage with celebrities like Pat Benatar and Richard Hawley during her musical career.

Her own music career began with a 2003 debut album “To Whom It May Concern.” It was followed by 2005’s “Now What,” and both hit the top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart. A third album, “Storm and Grace,” was released in 2012.

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

When Elvis died of cardiac arrest at the age of 42 in August 1977, Lisa Marie was nine years old. She was staying Graceland at the time and would recall him kissing her goodnight hours before he would collapse and never recover. When she next saw him, the following day, he was lying face down in the bathroom.

“I just had a feeling,” she told Rolling Stone in 2003. “He wasn’t doing well. All I know is I had it (a feeling), and it happened. I was obsessed with death at a very early age.”

After her father died, Lisa Marie became the sole heir of the Elvis Presley Trust. Along with Elvis Presley Enterprises, the trust managed Graceland and other assets until she sold her majority interest in 2005. She retained ownership of Graceland Mansion itself, the 13 acres around it and items inside the home. Her son is buried there, along with her father and other members of the Presley family.

Lisa Marie is a former Scientologist — her son was born in 1992 under guidelines set by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, according to an Associated Press story at the time — but later broke with Scientology.

Lisa Marie and her mother would often make regular trips to Graceland during huge fan celebrations on the anniversaries of Elvis’ death and birthday.

One of the two airplanes at Graceland is also named Lisa Marie.

Lisa Marie would later make headlines of her own. Struggles with drugs and some very public marriages. Her four husbands included Nicolas Cage and Michael Jackson.

Lisa Marie and Jackson were a high-profile couple but divorced in 1996 as Jackson was battling child molestation allegations.

Lisa Marie also became involved in numerous humanitarian causes, from anti-poverty programs administered through the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation to relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. She would receive formal citations from New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee for her work.

An outpouring of support from both fans and celebrities after her death began after her death.

The King of Queens actor Leah Remini said she is “heartbroken” over Lisa Marie’s passing.

“Lisa did not have an easy life, as some might think,” she said on Twitter. “May she be at peace, resting with her son and father now. Her mom Priscilla and her three daughters, Riley, Finley, and Harper, are in my prayers.”

Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer also shared her condolences online.

“So sad that we’ve lost another bright star in Lisa Marie Presley,” she said on Twitter.

Canadian-American actor Jennifer Tilly said she was “so sad” to hear about the death of Lisa Marie.

“Oddly, I was just at Graceland yesterday,” she said online. “The guide was telling us that sometimes she would have dinners in the dining room, and once she had a party for her friends in the plane named after her.”

American actor and musician Corey Feldman said: “Another person I shared deep emotion with has passed away.”

“This is so sad and shocking! Lisa and I spent hours on the phone as she was divorcing [Michael Jackson], her son Ben was like a little brother to me,” he said on Twitter.

— with files from The Associated Press & Reuters