The Presley family has been in the headlines recently for a truly tragic reason.
Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, passed away earlier this month aged just 54.
And now, Priscilla Presley is contesting her daughter’s will.
“Priscilla came in after Elvis’s death and pulled his legacy out of debt, transformed Graceland into a money maker. She knows what she’s doing… which is protecting her grandchildren,” wrote one fan.
“Glad she is still looking out for her grandchildren,” another added.
Following Lisa Marie’s death, celebrities were quick to offer tribute.
Including John Travolta.
“‘Lisa baby girl, I’m so sorry. I’ll miss you but I know I’ll see you again.
“My love and heart goes out to Riley, Priscilla, Harper and Finley,’ John Travolta wrote on Instagram.
Nicolas Cage also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter.
“This is devastating news. Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met. She lit up every room, and I am heartbroken. I find some solace believing she is reunited with her son Benjamin.”
Leah Remini offered a heartfelt tribute on Twitter.
“I’m heartbroken over the passing of Lisa Marie Presley. Lisa did not have an easy life, as some might think. 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.”
As did La Toya Jackson.
“We miss you Lisa! You will forever be in our hearts, I will never forget how much you shared the love you had for my brother with me, I thank you for being so honest.”
Juliette Lewis shared an emotional Instagram.
“We shared huge turning points in our lives. She taught me so much about resilience… I was 23… Frozen summers… Shared music, Friends. I am unable to write about it at this moment. Love to the girls.”
The Golden Globes also offered their words.
“We are incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of Lisa Marie Presley. She was an extremely talented Singer/Songwriter and a very welcome presence at the Golden Globes this past Tuesday. May you rest in peace”
“This is the saddest news I’ve heard. RIP Lisa,” added another fan.
And now, a worrying video from just days before Presley died has surfaced …
Now, Lisa Marie Presley is a name known around the world.
She was the child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, and was born exactly nine months after their wedding day!
After her father’s death in 1977, she became the heir to his estate.
Alongside Elvis’s parents, Lisa Marie’s grandparents.
But, Lisa Marie was also a musician in her own right.
And she made a very successful career for herself.
Her debut album, “To Whom It May Concern” hit number 5 on Billboard’s album chart.
Not only that, in 2003 it even earned gold certification.
Aside from her career, Lisa Marie was also famous for her personal life.
And her series of high-profile marriages…
Including her highly controversial and publicized marriage to Michael Jackson in 1994.
Which raised the eyebrows of many.
She also married Nicolas Cage in 2002.
But again, their marriage lasted only a few months.
Lisa had 4 children.
Though in 2020, tragedy hit the family as her son, Benjamin Keough, committed suicide.
There’s no denying that things have been difficult for the Presley family.
But, over recent years they have hit the headline for more positive reasons.
The Presley family has been back in the headlines of late.
Thanks mostly to the incredible Elvis biopic from 2022.
Austin Butler famously starred in the hit movie Elvis.
Which is Baz Luhrmann’s biopic of Elvis Presley, shining a light on his formative years and rise to stardom in the 1950s.
It tells the story of his life from childhood to rock and roll legend.
Touching on his relationship with the important people in his life.
His manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
And his then-wife, Priscilla Presley, and all the ups and downs of his career.
The movie itself had a stellar cast.
Featuring Austin Butler as Elvis Presley, Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker, Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla, and Dacre Montgomery as Steve Binder.
Fans had been raving about Elvis since it first came out.
Twitter had been inundated with posts about the movie, one fan tweeted: “me going back to the cinema for my 9675th watch of the Elvis movie.”
Another echoed: “I go to sleep thinking about the Elvis movie. I wake up thinking about the Elvis movie. Lord have mercy.
“Do you know the things I love about the new #ElvisMovie? The fact it’s done by someone who knows about Elvis, Austin’s incredible portrayal, and that a whole new generation is discovering Elvis for the first time, and seem to be falling in love with him. I find that awesome,” a third wrote.
Despite people raving about his brilliant performance and the incredible 12-minute standing ovation following the movie premiere at the Cannes Film Festival…
Butler went through a lot whilst filming.
The actor opened up about how he fully immersed himself in the character for 6 whole months when filming was postponed due to the pandemic.
It took a lot out of him, admitting that he began to lose touch with who he was.
After production finished, Butler was rushed to the hospital…
“You can lose touch with who you actually are. And I definitely had that when I finished Elvis — not knowing who I was,” he said to GQ. “The next day I woke up at 4 in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to hospital.”
“My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis,” Austin said.
While he thankfully recovered from the virus, there are many things that stuck with him after filming.
In an interview, Butler shared how grueling the filming experience was, explaining that Baz left him “in tears” the first day in the recording studio.
“When I was on my first day in the recording studio, Baz wanted me to get as close to performing as possible,” Austin told VMAN. “He had all the executives and everybody from RCA, who were back in the offices, he brought them into the recording studio and he goes: ‘I want you all to sit facing Austin’ and he told them to heckle me.”
“So then they were making fun of me and stuff while I was singing,” he added.
He went on: “When we were filming this moment when Elvis first got on stage and he’s getting heckled by the audience, I knew what that felt like. I went home in tears that night. I really did.”
Butler even shared that Leonardo DiCaprio had warned him about Baz, as he had worked alongside him for Romeo & Juliet, and again for The Great Gatsby, so he knew all about the filmmaker’s approach.
“I had spoken to Leo before and he said: ‘Baz is gonna push you in ways you didn’t know somebody could,'” Austin said. “‘He’s gonna push you off balance and keep you off balance.'”
Though the movie became a huge success, and with many even predicting that the actor will be in the running for an Oscar nomination next year, it wasn’t a smooth ride for Butler.
He sat down with Janelle Monáe for Variety’s Actors on Actors series to explain the extreme lengths he went through to perfect his role as Elvis.
Butler revealed he didn’t see his family for 3 years.
“During Elvis, I didn’t see my family for about 3 years,” he admitted.
“Oh no,” Monáe replied.
Butler continued: “I was off in New York prepping with Baz, and then I went to Australia. I had months where I wouldn’t talk to anybody.
“When I did, the only thing I was ever thinking about was Elvis.”
He then said when he did have the opportunity to speak with his family again, he was speaking to them Elvis’ accent.
“I was speaking in his voice the whole time,” Butler said.
But the latest news to hit the Presley family is far more tragic.
Just last week, Lisa Marie and her mom attended the Golden Globe Awards.
They were there to see Austin Butler win his award for his portrayal of Elvis.
But soon after, Presley was rushed to hospital.
Her housekeeper found her unconscious in her California home.
A worrying video of Presley slurring her words just days before her death then surfaced.
It was taken on the Golden Globes red carpet earlier this week.
Fans had already noticed she looked extremely thin and frail.
And in the video, she appeared to be slurring her words.
In the video, Lisa turns to her friend for support, saying: “I’m going to grab your arm.”
You can watch the clip right here.
All eyes went to Tom Hanks, waiting for his response to the tragic news.
Soon after, he broke his silence.
He and his wife, Rita Wilson, shared an emotional Instagram post.
“Our hearts are broken with the sudden and shocking passing of Lisa Marie Presley tonight.
“Tom and I had spent some time with the family during the Elvis movie promotional tour.
“Lisa Marie was so honest and direct, vulnerable, in a state of anticipation about the movie.
“She spoke so eloquently about her father, what the movie meant to her, that it was a celebration of her dad.
“She had her gorgeous daughters Finley and Harper with her who made us all laugh.
“She privately showed us her home, Graceland, and she made it feel like home to us. She was so gracious to us, Austin, Baz, and guests.
“If you haven’t heard her music please go listen.
“She had a sultry voice, a power and tenderness, that I have always loved.
“Our hearts and our prayers go out to Riley, Harper, Finley , Danny @nava_rone and Priscilla.
“A mother should never have to lose a child.
“Lisa Marie lost her precious son Benjamin, Priscilla loses her only daughter. It’s too much. Sending love to the family, prayers for peace and strength. Love, Rita and Tom”
Heartbreakingly, Presley’s final years were spent mostly in grief.
Her son, Benjamin, died by suicide in July 2020, aged just 27.
Presley’s final Instagram post was in tribute to her late son.
“Hi. In honor of it being National Grief Awareness Day , I wrote an essay about Grief which was posted today on PEOPLE,” she shared.
“I thought I’d post it here in the hopes that anyone who needs to hear all of this, it helps in some way.”
In her moving essay for PEOPLE, Presley spoke more about the subject.
“This is not a comfortable subject for anyone, and it is most unpopular to talk about,” she wrote.
“But if we’re going (to) make any progress on the subject, grief has to get talked about.
“Death is part of life whether we like it or not — and so is grieving,” she continued.
“Grief does not stop or go away in any sense, a year, or years after the loss. 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.”
“This is where finding others who have experienced a similar loss can be the only way to go. 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 concluded.
Further details about Presley’s cause of death then began to emerge.
Although things are still not totally clear.
“Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie,” a statement to TMZ reads.
“They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”
More details of the scene of Presley’s death then emerged.
Presley had reportedly been complaining of stomach pains before her death.
Her heart was restarted at the scene, before Presley was rushed to hospital.
Where Page Six confirms she coded several times before her eventual death.
It’s also reported that there were no drugs found on the scene.
But Page Six reports that it’s waiting for confirmation of the official cause of death.
At this time, her cause of death was believed to be cardiac arrest.
The very same thing that killed her father, Elvis.
Newsweek reports that paramedics attended an incident in a Calabasas home where a woman was in “full cardiac arrest.”
There were allegedly “signs of life,” so she was moved to hospital for “immediate medical care.”
After Presley was discovered, her ex-husband, Danny Keough performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
But tragically, all efforts to save Presley’s life ultimately failed.
Presley’s autopsy was then completed, as per TMZ.
However, we are still waiting on the toxicology results.
These results will hopefully explain what led to Presley’s seemingly unexpected medical emergency.
So without them, we’re still waiting on an official cause of death.
But in the wake of Presley’s death, her mother Priscilla has made a challenge to her will.
“There are many issues surrounding the authenticity and validity of the Purported 2016 Amendment,” the court filing states as per Unilad.
Priscilla wishes to remove herself and Presley’s former business manager Barry Siegel as trustees.
Leaving all of Lisa Marie’s assets to go to her daughter, Riley Keough.
