At nine, Lisa Marie Presley became heir to Elvis; at 25, she inherited it all
When Elvis died in 1977, his nine-year-old daughter shared his estate with her grandfather and great-grandmother. Within three years both had died, leaving Lisa Marie Presley as sole heir to a fortune that reached about $100 million by her 25th birthday. She later built her own career as a songwriter with a gold-selling debut.
She was born in Memphis on February 1, 1968, exactly nine months after her parents' wedding, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. They separated when she was four and divorced in 1973; home became Priscilla's house in Los Angeles, with frequent stays at Graceland. A year or two after her father's death she saw Queen at the Forum in Inglewood, her first rock concert, and afterwards gave Freddie Mercury one of Elvis's scarves.
The inheritance came to her in full in 1993, and in 2004 she sold 85 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises. Her private life drew as much attention as her name, especially her marriage to Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1996. She also later alleged that her mother's boyfriend after Elvis's death had abused her, repeating the claim in her memoir.
Her music career began in earnest in 2003. To Whom It May Concern reached number 5 on the Billboard 200 and went gold within months; she wrote nearly all the lyrics and co-wrote every melody. The Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn praised its stark tone and her gutsy, blues-tinged voice. Now What followed in 2005, reaching number 9, with a cover of Don Henley's Dirty Laundry and a song called Idiot aimed at several men in her life; it carried a parental advisory sticker. Storm and Grace, her third and last studio album, came out in 2012.
She also sang with her father through studio technology, beginning in 1997 with a version of Don't Cry Daddy that layered her voice over his original track for a concert marking 20 years since his death. She died on January 12, 2023. Her memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, was completed by her daughter Riley Keough and published in October 2024.
Source: Lisa Marie Presley
