Things We Learned About Lisa Marie Presley After She Died

Lisa Marie Presley lived an extraordinary life by just about any measure. She was the only child of Elvis Presley, and as such, a famous figure quite literally throughout her entire life. As a daughter of the world's arguably most famous musician, she was essentially doomed to live in her superstar father's shadow, but nevertheless tried to carve her own legacy in the music business. Her personal life included high-profile relationships with two other extremely well-known people, Nicolas Cage and Michael Jackson. Tragically, she also dealt with substance abuse and one of her children died by suicide. 

What's more, all of this happened in just 54 years, because her rollercoaster of a life ended early in a tragic fashion. The heart-wrenching death of Lisa Marie Presley came unexpectedly on January 13, 2023, and the shocking news also revealed some new information about her. Though many parts of her life were under intense media scrutiny, she had nevertheless managed to hold on to some secrets that only transpired after her tragically early demise. This was because certain events took place so shortly before she died, and because the public simply didn't get to know some sides of her while she was still alive. Here's what the world learned about Presley after her death.

Lisa Marie Presley's cause of death took a while to figure out. When her ex-husband Danny Keough found her in her bedroom on January 12, 2023, it was initially thought that she'd had a cardiac arrest. However, the autopsy report that was released on July 2023 revealed that while a cardiac event contributed to her death, its ultimate cause was a different and far more drawn-out medical situation. 

Presley's real cause of death was a small bowel obstruction. On the whole, this is a condition where a blockage in the small intestine prevents digestion, essentially causing the things a person eats and drinks to stop moving through their system. This may damage the gastrointestinal tissues and even burst the bowel, which can cause the contents to leak into the abdominal cavity and create a life-threatening infection. 

In Presley's case, the condition was caused by complications from a past weight loss procedure called bariatric surgery, which had caused scar tissue to form in her small bowel. She'd had the surgery several years ago, and the obstruction the scar tissue caused was ultimately the reason for the cardiac arrest she was hospitalized for. This turned out to be so serious that it damaged her brain, and she ultimately had another, fatal cardiac arrest at the hospital. Apart from all this, the autopsy also found that her body had built up acid, which implied her kidneys weren't working properly.

Lisa Marie Presley's premature death inevitably drew comparisons to the story of Elvis Presley's tragic death. The final 12 months of Elvis' life were marked by rampant drug misuse and self-destructive behavior before he died in a Graceland bathroom at just age 42. However, in this case, such comparisons may be warranted. While there were differences in the circumstances of their deaths, there are a number of eerie similarities in the way the famous father and daughter passed away. 

Both Presleys' deaths involved cardiac events, and it's worth noting that they're not even the only ones in their family to suffer such a fate. Elvis' mother Gladys Presley also died of a cardiac arrest – at the same age he did, no less. What's more, Lisa Marie and Elvis had both been dealing with colon-related medical issues before their deaths. Lisa Marie's autopsy report revealed that the cause of her death was a small bowel obstruction. Meanwhile, medical professionals have suspected that Elvis' heart attack may potentially have been caused by overt physical straining, due to the rock star's chronic constipation.

Another link between Elvis and Lisa Marie's deaths is that both had several drugs in their blood, though not in fatal doses. Lisa Marie, who had struggled with addiction in the past and took a number of medications, was found to have used oxycodone and multiple other prescription drugs, while Elvis' body had remnants of a vast cocktail of prescription opiates.

After Lisa Marie Presley's death, her mother Priscilla Presley revealed that she had been in a pretty dark place before she passed away. According to her, much of this had to do with Lisa Marie's son Benjamin Presley, who died by suicide in 2020 . 

In an interview with "Piers Morgan Uncensored" (via E! Online), Priscilla shared a haunting memory of a late-game interaction with her daughter. "We were in Memphis, we were sitting up in a suite and she said, 'Mom, I don't know if I want to be here,'" she said. "I go, 'What are you talking about?' And she'd go on about Ben and how she is still grieving." After a follow-up question, she also expressed her belief that Lisa Marie's comments meant she didn't wish to be alive anymore.

Lisa Marie Presley was open about the profound way her son's death impacted her. In 2022, mere months before her death, she wrote an essay for People where she analyzed the concept of grief. "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," she wrote. "You do not 'get over it,' you do not 'move on,' period." Priscilla Presley's comments indicate that Lisa Marie indeed hadn't moved on in the days leading up to her death, making the essay a testament to the pain she felt until the end.

Lisa Marie Presley's autopsy report may have shed some light on the dramatic circumstances of her death from small bowel obstruction, but it also revealed tragic details about her final months. The weight loss surgery that caused the intestinal scarring that led to her death had taken place years ago, and the complications it caused had created numerous, extremely painful-sounding symptoms that plagued her in the months leading to her death. 

The report revealed that Presley had been suffering from abdominal pain for several months before her death. Her symptoms also included nausea, vomiting, and fever-like sensations. While she had a cosmetic surgery procedure during her final months and was later treated for a subsequent infection, it appears she didn't get medical help for these symptoms, excruciating as they sound. 

Presley kept the bariatric surgery procedure that ultimately killed her hidden from even some of her closest friends and acquaintances, who were surprised to learn about it after her death. It's unclear whether this was a factor in her decision to not seek help for her abdominal symptoms, but the very idea that she may have suffered for months before her death is an unnerving thought that adds an extra layer of tragedy to her sad fate.

There are many famous rock stars who are surprisingly poor and even musicians who died penniless, but you wouldn't necessarily expect a musician who also happens to be the sole child of Elvis Presley to rank among them. However, this was the case with Lisa Marie Presley, whose debt at the time of her death may have been as much as $4 million. 

This information surfaced in November 2022 during her custody case with Michael Lockwood, but major outlets only really started covering it after she died. Apart from the $4 million debt, she also said she owed $1 million to the IRS. As it turned out, after her death, she had a sizeable life insurance policy that paid out a total of $25 million to her three children and her half-brother.  

Lisa Marie Presley inherited Elvis' wealth after he died, gained access to his estate after she turned 25 in 1993, and sold off 85% of her ownership in 2004. This netted her around $100 million, and Graceland stayed in her hands. However, come 2018, she sued her business manager and claimed his mismanagement had sent her $16 million in debt. Compared to this situation, her money situation at death doesn't seem quite as bad as it once was — and her life insurance threw yet another curveball at her complicated finances, allowing her to posthumously provide its recipients financial security despite her own struggles with money.

Despite the grief and health issues she was dealing with, Lisa Marie Presley was still able to find joy in life. What's more, she was still able to enjoy the company of her mother Priscilla Presley, despite the often difficult relationship between them. According to Priscilla, the mother and the daughter had a spontaneous bit of fun just before the 2023 Golden Globes, mere days before Lisa Marie's death on January 13.

"We had just gotten there, you go down all these stairs," Priscilla Presley told The Hollywood Reporter. "I tripped a little bit because I had these high heels on, and she started laughing so hard. I started laughing. We hadn't even had a drink yet. She goes, 'Oh my God, Mom, you can't even have a drink.' ... It was fun, a fun memory." 

It may be comforting to think that even with the pain Lisa Marie was dealing with, she was able to share a moment of genuine joy with her own mother. Unfortunately, this heartwarming moment soon ended when the impending tragedy stepped in with a painful warning. "Then we sat down and ordered drinks, and she says, 'Mom, my stomach hurts really bad.' We immediately got up and left," Priscilla recounted the grim follow-up to the moment of shared laughter. 

With Baz Luhrmann's 2022 movie "Elvis," it's only natural to expect that there would be plenty of fresh interest in Lisa Marie Presley and the rest of the family in the media. After Presley's death, it turned out that her answer to said interest was to embark on a secret and rapid weight loss regime for the 2023 Golden Globes, possibly losing as much as 50 pounds in just six weeks. "She wanted to look her very best," an unnamed friend told Page Six. 

Presley had a self-admitted history of experimenting with various fashionable diets, but in 2014, she told People that she had found that simple clean living is the best fit for her. "Knowing my family history – my father's side is totally not healthy and they have shorter life spans, while my mom's side is super fit with long life spans — I didn't know where I would land," she said. "So I said, 'Okay. I'm going to play it safe and try to be as healthy as I can be.'" 

Unfortunately, it appears that the healthiness approach didn't last, and she resorted to more extreme weight loss methods. While her autopsy report didn't associate crash dieting with her death, the weight loss surgery she'd had some years ago did end up causing the small bowel obstruction that proved fatal.

When a celebrity dies, family, friends, and other acquaintances may find themselves reflecting on their last interactions with the dearly departed, and sharing their experiences with the world. In an interview with the U.S. Sun, singer and friend of the Presley family Pat Boone found himself in such a situation. He revealed that when he had visited Graceland for Elvis Week in August 2022, he interacted with both Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley — and soon noticed that something wasn't right with the former. "I got to spend time with Lisa Marie and Priscilla. I could tell at that time Lisa Marie seemed down, seemed depressed," Boone recounted his experiences. "I felt something. I had, what's the word, ominous feelings about her, and of course it proved to be accurate. I didn't know it was serious enough for me to get involved." 

Boone was in Graceland in an official capacity, appearing on two Elvis Week events to share stories and interact with the audience. As a veteran of the entertainment industry and someone who personally knew Elvis, he was aware of the personal and professional difficulties Lisa Marie Presley had to deal with while struggling with her father's overwhelming legacy. "I think she had a lot of disappointments and then the death of her son," he said. "I mean it was just too much."

Lisa Marie Presley died at a time when the spotlight on the Presley family shone even brighter than usual. Mere two days before her death on January 13, 2023, she had attended the 2023 Golden Globe awards, where Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis" biopic earned star Austin Butler an award for best actor in a drama motion picture. In her comments to the media and the attendees, she expressed happiness and gratefulness about the event and Butler's performance. However, one interviewer grew concerned about her condition, though he couldn't quite put a finger on what was wrong.

"Extra" host Billy Bush was present at the scene, and while interviewing Presley, he immediately realized that she didn't seem to be in full health. "She was very uneven in her balance," Bush commented on the experience of interviewing her for Fox 11 Los Angeles. "The speech was very slow. And, definitely, when the interview was over, I turned to my producer next to me and said, 'Something's off here.' 

Bush wouldn't know that she was interviewing a dying woman until two days later, and as he noted, Presley was still able to function despite her frailty. "She was cognizant. She was certainly with it, just a second slow. But she was there. She was definitely there, but just a tad off in some way." 

Unbeknownst to many, Lisa Marie Presley was working on at least two different books at the time of her death. One was a collaborative memoir with her daughter Riley Keough, who entered the project at her mother's request in 2022 to move things along. Despite Presley's untimely death, Keough went on to complete the project, "From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir," which combines both Lisa Marie's and Riley's experiences to describe the former's truly uncanny life as Elvis Presley's daughter.   

Apart from "From Here to the Great Unknown,"  Presley was also planning to work on another, at least as personal book project. Together with author and grief expert David Kessler, she was set to write a book on grief — a subject both of them knew well. "I met Lisa Marie after her son Ben died,"  he wrote on Instagram after her death. "She wanted to talk to me, not because I was a grief expert, but because I was someone who also had a child die. It became an improbable friendship but that is how grief works." It remains to be seen whether anything will come of this project, but since it appears to have been at an early stage, Presley's 2022 essay on grief for People – which features a link to Kessler's website — may be the closest thing to a collaboration between the pair we're going to get. 

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, is struggling or in crisis, or needs help with addiction issues, contact the relevant resources below:

- The Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

- Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).