The great loves of Lisa Marie Presley’s life, from Michael Jackson to Danny Keough

The world was plunged into mourning when Lisa Marie Presley died aged 54 earlier this year, with tributes flooding social media from friends, fans, and loved ones.

Presley, the only daughter of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, was rushed to hospital following a suspected cardiac arrest, and never came home. She left behind her mother and children: Riley Keough, 33, and twins Finley and Harper Lockwood, 14.

As a youngster, the famed singer-songwriter made many a headline thanks to her star-studded list of partners, which included Michael Jackson, Nicolas Cage, Michael Lockwood and, of course, actor Danny Keough.

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Cage, who married Presley 21 years ago this week, paid tribute to Presley in the wake of her death, saying in a statement he was “heartbroken” over the “devastating news.”

In a statement obtained by the Hollywood Reporter, the 59-year-old actor said Presley was someone who “lit up every room.”

“Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met. She lit up every room, and I am heartbroken,” Cage’s statement read.

“I find some solace believing she is reunited with her son Benjamin,” he added, in reference to her son, Benjamin Keough, who died aged 27 in 2020.

Read on to learn more about the loves of Lisa Marie Presley’s life.

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Danny Keough

Presley’s first great love was actor Danny Keough. At the time they met, Keough was working as a bass player. Their official meeting location was actually at the Church of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre in 1984.

Per current reports, Keough is still a Scientologist, while Presley left the church in 2014, along with her mother. The pair reportedly joined the Church of Scientology just after Elvis’ death in 1977.

The pair married in 1988. Presley was 20 at the time, while Keough was 23.

They soon welcomed children, with the arrival of their daughter, Riley (whose full name is Danielle Riley Keough) in 1989.

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In 1992, their son Benjamin came along. Just a few years later, the pair’s relationship ended, with them filing for divorce in 1994.

Sadly, their son Benjamin lived a troubled life, and died aged 27 in July 2020. Presley later revealed in an essay on grief for People Magazine, published in August 2022, that her son’s death “completely destroyed” her.

“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.

“It’s a real choice to keep going, one that I have to make every single day and one that is constantly challenging to say the least.”

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Following the tragic loss, Presley moved in with Keough. Keough reportedly performed CPR on Presley after returning home and finding her unconscious at her Calabasas home in January.

Though Presley moved on from Keough with a bigger star in 1994, she told Marie Claire in 2007 that her greatest regret was leaving him.

“My biggest mistake? Let’s see,” she said. “How can I word this? Um. Well. Leaving my first marriage, for the person that I left it for – that was probably the biggest mistake of my life.”

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Michael Jackson

The story of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley was one that never seemed to leave the headlines.

The pair famously linked up just 20 days after Presley’s divorce was finalised with Keough in 1994.

“The King of Pop married the Daughter of Rock” in May that year, in a very secretive ceremony in the Dominican Republic.

They spent the next two months of their relationship refusing to confirm they were married, but soon stepped out together on numerous public occasions and at events.

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But there is one event that many will never forget.

On September 8, 1994, Michael Jackson appeared at the VMAs at Radio City Music Hall in New York, famously stepping out on stage with his new bride.

The pair walked hand-in-hand, grinning at screaming fans, with Jackson saying the famous words, “Nobody thought this would last,” before wrapping Presley up in a kiss.

However, their partnership didn’t last, with Presley filing for divorce from the Thriller singer in 1996.

Michael Jackson‘s estate paid tribute to Presley following her death, saying in an Instagram statement: ”We are saddened by the sudden tragic loss of Michael’s former wife, Lisa Marie Presley. Michael cherished the special bond they enjoyed and was comforted by Lisa Marie’s generous love, concern and care during their times together.”

“Our hearts are with Lisa Marie’s children, Riley, Harper and Finley, and her mother, Priscilla, in this difficult time,” the statement concluded.

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Nicolas Cage

In the year 2000, Presley stumbled into the lifepath of famous actor Nicolas Cage.

The pair reportedly met at a party while Cage was still married to his ex Patricia Arquette. After Cage left Arquette, they started dating. Cage later told the late reporter Barbara Walters that he and Presley “met unexpectedly” despite him being a big Elvis fan.

“I walk into a party not knowing who I’m going to meet, and there’s this beautiful girl standing in the middle of the living room wearing this short leather skirt and this fluffy jacket,” he told Walters.

“And she looks up at me with these big, beautiful, soulful eyes that look like they have a sad story to tell, and I just went ‘Oh.’ I was thunderstruck,” he said.

“We got to talking, we got to know each other, and she’s hilarious and she’s a real firecracker and she tells it like it is,” he added.

After a few years of dating, the lovers married in Hawaii in 2002. Sadly, at the time, tabloids claimed the pair were constantly butting heads and arguing.

Their lack of a match proved true, with Cage filing for divorce just 107 days after their wedding. The divorce was finalised in 2004.

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Michael Lockwood

The last love in Presley’s life was musician and producer Michael Lockwood.

At the time, Lockwood was known best for performing and producing music with some of the best artists, including Carly Simon, Fiona Apple and Bijou Phillips.

The pair married in 2006 and welcomed their twins, Finley and Harper, in 2008.

Sadly, after 10 years of marriage, Lisa Marie filed for divorce from Lockwood, citing “irreconcilable differences”. The pair were then locked in a long custody battle over their children, which ended with them receiving joint custody, with the twins living with Presley, and Lockwood being entitled to see them three times a week.

While the end of the relationship was hard, Presley did not speak out publicly about the situation, simply saying she did not regret the relationship because it brought her her beautiful children.

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