Inside tragic Presley dynasty from Elvis and Lisa Marie’s untimely deaths to Benjamin’s suicide
THE Presley family has faced several tragic moments throughout the generations, starting with the death of its iconic patriarch Elvis.
Lisa Marie Presley died on Thursday at age 54 and some of the previous heartbreak was captured in a new Elvis movie made by Baz Luhrmann just last year.
Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough, said she broke down in tears after watching the movie for the first time.
“I started crying five minutes in and didn’t stop. There’s a lot of family trauma and generational trauma that started around then for our family,” she said.
However, only more blows have seemed to hit the family in the years after the movie takes place.
LISA MARIE’S SUDDEN DEATH
Lisa Marie, Elvis’ only child with then-wife Priscilla Presley, died on January 12 after suffering cardiac arrest at her home.
Paramedics performed CPR on her after she was found in her Calabasas, California, home before taking her in for treatment.
Lisa Marie’s mother confirmed the news of her passing in a statement, according to the AP.
She said: “It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us.”
The actress went on: “She was the most passionate, strong, and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss.
“Thank you for your love and prayers. At this time there will be no further comment.”
Just days before her death, Lisa Marie was spotted at the Golden Globe awards with her mother and actor, Austin Butler.
Austin famously played Lisa Marie’s father and won the Golden Globe for his role as the rocker in the self-titled biopic.
ICON GONE
At the age of nine, Lisa Marie became the sole heir to her father’s estate when he died suddenly in 1977 at age 42.
He and Priscilla were already divorced by that point, and the young Lisa Marie was living between Los Angeles with her mother and Graceland with her father.
In a previous interview, Lisa Marie said that her father kissed her and put her to bed the night before his death, then she woke up and realized something was wrong.
“I knew something was wrong, because I was in my room which was right next to his bathroom,” she said.
“So I knew that something was very wrong. All the commotion and everything. I was a wreck.”
Lisa Marie added that she was “a mess” but was confused at the time because of how upset she was.
Elvis had a well-known drug addiction before he died and was known to take sleeping pills, Demerol injections, amphetamines, codeine, morphine, diazepam, and Placidyl.
Elvis is buried on the Graceland estate, where the singer famously lived in his mansion.
GRANDSON’S DEATH
Elvis’ grandson, Benjamin Keough, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his mother’s home on July 12, 2020.
An autopsy report obtained by The U.S. Sun confirmed the cause of death was a shotgun wound and the manner of death was ruled as suicide.
Ben tested positive for alcohol and cocaine at the time of his death, according to the report.
For his birthday the following year, Lisa Marie shared a heartbreaking Instagram post, writing that the “depth of the pain is suffocating.”
This past August, Lisa Marie penned an essay for “National Grief Day,” where she opened up about the loss of her son.
“My and my three daughters’ lives as we knew it were completely detonated and destroyed by his death. We live in this every. Single. Day,” she wrote.
“Grief is something you will have to carry with you for the rest of your life, in spite of what certain people or our culture wants us to believe. You do not ‘get over it,’ you do not ‘move on,’ period.”
At the time, Lisa Marie said she found comfort in people who faced a similar tragedy.
“Support groups that have your specific kind of loss in common. I go to them, and I hold them for other bereaved parents at my home.
“Nothing, absolutely NOTHING takes away the pain, but finding support can sometimes help you feel a little bit less alone.”
She added that her daughters kept her going in part because her son “made it very clear in his final moments that taking care of his little sisters and looking out for them were on the forefront of his concerns and his mind.
“He absolutely adored them and they him.”
‘MY BEST GIRL’
Gladys Presley had a close relationship with her son before she passed away in 1958.
She married Elvis’ father, Vernon Presley, in 1935 and soon became pregnant with twins.
However, tragedy struck during the birth when Elvis’ twin brother Jesse Garon Presley was stillborn.
Gladys was reported as saying “when one twin died, the one that lived got all the strength of both.”
The mother and son had a devoted relationship, so much so that when she was diagnosed with hepatitis and her condition worsened, Elvis was granted emergency leave from the military to visit her.
Gladys passed away on August 14 at age 46 and Elvis was reportedly devastated.
“It broke my heart,” he said in an interview.
“She was always my best girl.”
Elvis’ parents and his grandson, Benjamin, are buried alongside him at Graceland.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.