Lisa Marie Presley died suddenly from cardiac arrest on January 12, 2023 just three weeks before her 55th birthday.
News had surfaced starting in 2019 that Lisa Marie had landed a book deal for $3 to $4 million. She was reportedly paid an advance of up to $1 million for the book about her life story.
It was expected to be a jaw-dropping memoir with Lisa Marie revealing details about her marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicholas Cage, as well as what it was like to grow up at Graceland with The King of Rock and Roll.
“Publishers have been clamoring to get her story for years,” an insider told OK! magazine. “She’s kept everything bottled up for so long, and now it’s time to let it go.”
Lisa, who was Elvis Presley’s only child, had suffered a great amount of loss at a young age. Not only did she lose her father when she was 9 years old, but two years later she lost her grandfather, Vernon Presley, and a year after that, her great-grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley.
And of course most recently in July 2020, she lost her only son, Benjamin Keough, to suicide. She was devastated by the loss, but after two years she was learning how to cope with her grief. On August 30, 2022, Lisa wrote an essay about dealing with her son’s death that was published by People magazine. She posted an announcement of the article on her Instagram page:
She was close with her grief counselor, David Kessler, who she invited to accompany her to Graceland in Memphis for her father’s 88th birthday celebration on January 8, 2023.
“She was in my grief educator program,” Kessler shared in a Facebook post, “and many who met her and chatted with her on Zoom had no idea who she was. To them, she was a mother, whose son had died and wanted to turn her pain into purpose. She also co-led grief groups with me for the past two years on Sundays at her home for other bereaved parents. We were planning on doing a podcast about grief together.”
In her book, she was also expected to dive into dark periods of her life including her son’s death, her escape from Scientology and her addiction to painkillers. She hoped that sharing her story would help others.
Kessler said the night of January 7, 2023, he sat with Lisa by the graves of her father and son at Graceland. Kessler said Lisa Marie pointed out that she would be buried there some day.
Kessler said to her: “A long time from now.”
Lisa Marie replied: “Yes, I have so much I still want to do.”
A memorial service for Lisa Marie will be held at Graceland on Sunday, January 22, 2023.
Note: In the days following her death, all three of Lisa Marie’s solo albums have risen to the top 20 of the iTunes music album charts.
The day after Presley died, Presley’s three albums, To Whom It May Concern (2003), Now What (2005) and Storm and Grace (2012), entered the top 20.
[Click on each album cover for more info]
CLICK HERE to watch and listen to the four duets that Lisa Marie sang with her father, Elvis Presley
For more info about Lisa’s life and legacy, visit our Lisa Marie Presley page
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