Elvis Family History (1669 - 2024)

Below is the lineage, divided into paternal and maternal, of Elvis Aaron Presley. According to records, the surname "Presley" derives from the German "Bressler" and/or "Preslar", having his family originated in Germany around 1669.
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PATERNAL LINEAGE

Johannes Valentin Bressler, the founder of the Presley family in the United States, was born in Palatinate, Germany, in 1669, in the village of Hochstadt (where the "Preslar family" was first mentioned in 1494); Valentine worked there as a winegrower; he married Anna Christiana Franse born in Germany in 1674) and emigrated to New York in 1709.

In the first generations of the family in the United States, German surnames were often translated into English; Bressler became Preslar (Johannes was shortened to Johann and then John). In the mid-1800s, many family members changed their surname to Pressley or Pressly. This continued until Elvis Presley's grandfather, Jessie D. McDowell Pressley (JD).

In June 1709, approximately 2400 Germans arrived in New York and New Jersey from England. Johannes Bressler and family had left Germany in search of a better life in the United States. They arrived in London between May and November 1710. On June 14, 1710, among those who arrived aboard the ship Fame (Captain Walter Houxton) were: Johann Valentin Bressler, 41, his wife, Anna Christiana, 36, and children; Anna Elisabetha, 14, Anna Gertrud, 12, Andreas, 6, Antoni, 4, and (son) 1-1 / 2.

Andreas Preslar was born in Germany in 1704 and died in 1759 in Anson, North Carolina. He was about to marry Antje (Anna) Wills of Staten Island, New York, in 1727, when they moved to said city, passing through Philadelphia and Maryland, and then going to Anson. Antje Wills was born in 1697 in Southold, Suffolk, New York, and died in 1765 in Anson. (Some sources list a Andreas (Andrew) Preslar as born in 1701).

There was two Preslar families living in Anson County. Not only were Andreas and Antje (Anna) Wells' children living there, but Hans Jurie Preslar (1713-1777) - Andreas' brother - children too. It appears that the descendants of Hans Jurie kept the surname "Preslar", while the descendants of Andreas shifted their surname to Pressley or Presley, maybe to differentiate between the two families.

Andreas (Andrew) and Antje (Anna) had five children born and baptized at St. Stephen's Church, in Cecil County, Maryland; Christian Preslar, born in 1725, John Valentine Preslar, born in 1726, Sarah Preslar, born in 1728, Thomas Preslar, born in 1730 and Andrew Preslar, Jr., Thomas'  younger brother, born in 1732. The sons of Andrew Preslar Jr, were: Charles, John, Andrew III, Peter and Joseph. John, born in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1748, served in the American Revolutionary War with his brother, Peter, born in 1756.

After the war, John moved to Monroe County, Tennessee, where he applied for a pension and received it beginning in 1833. John was in Tennessee at the same time as Dunning Presley and Dunning, Jr., who were born in Monroe in 1827. However, John, they said, moved there to be near his children. Charles Presley also fought in the Revolutionary War, along his wife Mary Polly Keziah. (Hereinafter referred to as Presley).

John Presley, son of Andrew, Jr. is the father of Dunning (Dunnan) Presley. Dunning, Sr. is listed in the Buncombe County Census of 1810, and the 1820 Census in the same city, along with John Presley. It is believed now that John Presley may have been married to a Casiah / Keziah, daughter of Dunning Casiah, Andrew Prestley's neighbor,  and whose other daughter, Mary Polly Keziah, married to the eldest son of Andrew, Charles. John's son, John Dunning Presley, assuming that his mother was a Casiah, would have been, in the Tuscarora tradition, named after his maternal grandfather, in this case, DUNNING Casiah.

It is interesting to note here the Census records and the claims for war pensions that show us Andrew Presley / Priestly with Charles, John and Anthony, and Andrew III, born in 1754, son of Andrew, Jr., who also had a son named John, both moving to Tennessee. Both Andrew Presley and his brother John gained rewards in the form of land, which is why they moved to South Carolina and Tennessee.

We have Charles Presley / Priestley who served of his own free will, but also stepped in to serve in place of both Andrew and John, his brothers. John said in his war pension application that he had served in place of his brother, Peter. Dunning (Dunnan) Presley, Sr. was born in 1780 in Lancaster County, South Carolina, and died at 70 in 1850, in Polk County, Tennessee. Married to (1) Mary. Married to (2) Catherine in 1808 in Lancaster County.

Part of Charles Presley's War Pension Application Document

Dunning Presley, Jr. was born on July 1, 1827 in Monroe County, Tennessee. Dunning, Jr. was the son of John Presley, grandson of Dunning Presley, Sr. and great-grandson of Andrew (Andreas) Preslar, the family's first immigrant to America. On November 1, 1847, at the age of 20, he enlisted in Knoxville as a soldier in Captain Jno's Company C of the 5th Tennessee Volunteer Regiment. His regiment served in the Mexican War, and between February and April 1848 he was in San Juan, Mexico, and in May 1848, at National Bridge. In Vera Cruz, he contracted a serious gastrointestinal illness, which remained with him throughout his life (and probably reached Elvis).

Dunning served nobly and on July 2, 1848 he is on the ship home, where he is relieved of service on July 20, 1848 in Memphis. On November 7, he was issued a warrant for 160 hectares of land based on his military service. It was sent to him under the care of Rufus Smith in Madisonville, Tennessee. Dunning returned home to his wife and eldest daughter. He had married Elizabeth in 1845 in North Carolina or Tennessee, and from this union five children were born.: Elvira E. in 1846, Elizabeth, in 1848, Joshua in 1851, Dunning (III), in 1852, and Nancy Jane in 1854.

In 1860, Dunning Presley's life is touched by despair when his beloved Elizabeth dies. She left him with five children, the oldest of fifteen and the youngest of six. Dunning leaves them in the care of relatives and prepares to claim his concession lands. He had heard that land in Mississippi was quite cheap, so he headed there. While in MS, Dunning meets a young lady, Martha Jane Wesson, several years his junior, whom he marries on August 15, 1861. The joy of their marriage is overshadowed by the new and different Civil War, which began in April 1861.

Martha Jane Wesson, daughter of Edward Wesson and Emily Ferguson of Itawamba County, MS, is young and vibrant, and ready for marriage and motherhood. In February 1862, the couple's first child, Rosella Elizabeth Presley, was born. As with his first marriage, he soon went off to war again. The US Federal Census in Itawamba in 1900 states that the initial letter of Rosella's middle name was "M". She is listed with several of her children. However, other sources give her as Elizabeth.

Still suffering from his colon disease, Dunning was 37 years old during the War of Northern Aggression. He had served in a previous war and was still adapting to the effects of that service when he decided to re-enlist. On May 11, 1863, he enlisted in Grenada, Mississippi, in Company E of the Hamm Regiment of Mississippi Cavalry. Perhaps, like many other Civil War soldiers, he was worried about his family and temporarily left the service in order to investigate the circumstances, because between January 18 and June 30, 1864 he was listed as AWOL.

Martha Jane gives birth to the couple's second child, Mary Jane 'Rosalinda' Presley in 1864. Dunning returns to his unit in 1864, probably after Rosalinda's birth. He returned to his unit for the final roll call and remained there until the end of the war in 1865 (some sources list the birth of Mary Jane 'Rosalinda' Presley in 1865). After Dunning's return, there are problems in the family. One Sunday, as Marta Jane and her daughters attend mass, Dunning leaves, never to see them again. He is said to have returned to TN and is assumed to have gone to check on his family there. Reports vary (it's been over 150 years now).

Martha Jane married William Steele between 1866 and 1867. She died in 1868 in childbirth. Dunnan and Martha Jane's two daughters, named Rosella (Elvis' great-grandmother) and Mary Jane, found themselves being raised by their maternal grandmother, Millie Wesson. Although none of the daughters were educated or married, they raised thirteen children - all took the surname Presley. The 1880 Census of Independance, Arkansas, states that the last name of Dunnan Presley, Jr. was indeed Presley.

Dunning Presley claimed a pension for service in the Mexican War from his residence in Washburn Twp., Barry County, MO, in the late 1880s - which he received and was awarded the sum of $8 a month. Dunning died shortly afterwards, on March 10, 1900, in Mississippi, at the age of 73.

Elvis' paternal line continued through John Wallace (his great-grandfather) and Jessie D. McDowell (JD) Presley (1896-1973), (grandfather). Although the legitimate surname should have been Wallace, Rosella gave her son her own maiden name, Pressley, as did her daughter Martha, who was born on April 9, 1896 in Itawamba County, Mississippi. Rosella had nine illegitimate children, never identifying to them who her parents were. Rosella stubbornly and deftly supported them by working as a sharecropper (farm laborer who provides services on other people's land).

Mrs. Doshia Steele, one of Rosella's daughters, said this of her situation:
"I can't remember anyone saying who our father was. It was a big mystery when we were kids. My mother just didn't talk about it."

Rosella internalized [her parents'] abandonments and repeated them throughout her life - starting at nineteen and continuing until she was forty-seven. One can imagine that without a father figure (Jessie was effectively abandoned by his father), the result could be a troubled child and that Jessie Presley would reenact her parents' abandonment, making weak connections with his own children. And so it was with Vernon after him!

His brother, Calhoun Presley, said this about JD:
"For most of his life, Jessie drifted from job to job throughout Mississippi, Kentucky, and Missouri. He was a sharecropper in the summer and a lumberjack in the winter. Jessie worked hard and played hard. He was an honest man, but he liked to drink whiskey and was often involved in bar fights. JD was a handsome thin man about seven feet tall with black hair. He also dressed well. Clothes were one of the most important things in his life. People used to call him "the lawyer" because he dressed smartly.

He loved fine clothes. His favorite suit was a brown one with bespoke pearl buttons. He saved up for months to buy it. Twenty-four dollars. He paraded through the city like a peacock, head in the air and cane in hand. Owning expensive clothes was his only ambition in his life. He hated poverty and didn't want people to know he was poor. He felt that if he wore a tailored suit, people would look up to him."

On July 20, 1913, JD Pressley married Minnie Mae Hood (pictured right). Jessie served in the US Army (statized) during World War I. On April 10, 1916, in Fulton, Mississippi, their first child was born - Vernon Elvis Presley (1916-1979), the father of Elvis Presley.

It was in Vernon's way that much of Jessie's abandonment was directed. Vernon was afraid of JD, any transgression of his father's rules could lead to a beating. This, combined with Jessie's reputation as a drunk and womanizer, caused permanent damage to their relationship. In many ways, it was as if Vernon had no father, as Jessie repeated with her own son his father's abandonment.

This theme of abandonment reverberates throughout Elvis' paternal lineage. It is a strong indication of the "abandonment" that Elvis felt in his own life. Jessie fathered five children during his marriage to Minnie Mae; Vester, Vernon, Delta Mae, Nashville (Nash) and Lorene.

Around 1945/1946, JD suddenly disappeared. This time, forever. He left Tupelo, heading north to Kentucky, where he later became a night watchman at a Pepsi-Cola plant in Louisville. In 1946, claiming that Minnie Mae had abandoned him, Jessie Presley filed for divorce. In response, Minnie Mae, whom Elvis nicknamed "Dodger", stated, "I didn't leave my husband. He left me and went to live with another woman. He hasn't sent me any money in over a year. I'm not able to make a living on my own."

The judge heard both sides, and then granted Jessie a divorce with no child support required for Minnie Mae. The divorce was finalized on August 3, 1954 in Lee County, Mississippi. JD then married Vera (Kinnaird) Leftwich. Minnie Mae never remarried. She moved in with her son and daughter-in-law in a house on Berry Street. She later lived in the Graceland mansion until her death in 1980.

Elvis may have been born with JD's adventurous spirit instilled or he himself influenced him a lot. Surprise or not, JD also used his payments to record some songs independently. And he even appeared on TV in 1958.

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MATERNAL LINEAGE

Elvis' great-great-grandmother, Morning White Dove (1800-1835), was a pure-blooded Cherokee. She married William Mansell, a settler in Tennessee, in 1818. William's father, Richard Mansell, had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mansell is a French name - its literal translation is "the man of Le Mans". The Mansells migrated from Norman, France, to Scotland, and then to Ireland. In the 18th century, the family went to the American colonies.

The designation "White" in her name refers to her status as a friendly indian. Early American settlers called peaceful indians 'whites', while 'reds' was the designation for warlike indians or those who allied with the British in the Revolutionary War. It was common for male settlers to marry "white" indian women, as there was a shortage of women on the American frontier.

Like many young people in the American Southwest, William Mansell fought with Andrew Jackson in the Indian Wars of the early 19th century. He fought Old Hickory in Alabama at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and later in Florida as well. Returning to Tennessee, William Mansell married Morning Dove.

Writer and researcher Elaine Dundy said of the wedding:

"William Mansell gained ancient indian knowledge of the American terrain; of forests and defenses; of cultures and play; protection against the weather; traditional medicine, healing plants, as well as something the indians were experts at - fixing broken bones. In addition, he added to the Elvis lineage the indigenous ruddy complexion and fine cheek lines."

Like many other settlers, the newlyweds migrated to Alabama to claim land accumulated in the wars. The Mansells settled in Marion County in northeast Alabama, near the Mississippi border. Morning White Dove and William Mansell prospered there. Their land was fertile and they built a large house near the town of Hamilton. They had three children, the eldest being John Mansell, born in 1828, and great-great-grandfather to Elvis. John Mansell, meanwhile, squandered the legacy of the family farm. In 1880 he abdicated and went to Oxford, Mississippi, changing his name to Colonel Lee Mansell. His children left Hamilton to try their luck in the town of Saltillo, Mississippi, near Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley. The third of John Mansell's children, White Mansell, became the patriarch of the family. He was Elvis' great-grandfather.

White Mansell married Martha Tackett of Saltillo. Of note is the Jewish religion of Martha's mother, Nancy Tackett. It was rare to find a Jewish settler in Mississippi during this time. All accounts point to White Mansell as hardworking, righteous and provider for a clan increasingly besieged by economic factors beyond his control. The Civil War fractured the economy and soul of the South. Cotton, the backbone of the region, was subject to financial depressions such as the Panic of 1890.

After the ravages of the Civil War, like many other families in the South, the Mansells were at the breaking point. They sold their land and became sharecroppers. The prosperity of the South, along with the family fortunes, had fallen. However, the sharecropper life was not incessantly bleak. They had music and dancing and the comfort of religion. Tenants and sharecroppers were often invited to the landlords' home on Saturday nights for square dances and parties. On Sundays there were picnics after church. Although there was little hope of escaping poverty, it was a life of community with some happiness.

Now enters Doll Mansell (1876-1935), Gladys Presley's mother and Elvis' grandmother, of whom Elaine Dundy had this to say:
"And the happiest of all the girls at these meetings, of recognized beauty, was the thin, exquisite porcelain doll, the spoiled third daughter of White Mansell... Doll. She was a delicate beauty and the apple of her father's eye. She didn't marry until she was 27, when she did to her cousin, Robert Smith."

Robert Smith and Doll Mansell, Gladys' parents and Elvis' grandparents, in their
wedding day - September 19, 1903

Bob Smith (1873-1931) was the son of White Mansell's sister Ann. Ann Mansell was a woman of impressive dignity and stature, a commanding presence until her death at the age of eighty-six. Bob Smith and Doll Mansell, Elvis Presley's maternal grandparents, were first cousins. This was a genetic intensification, duplication, of the family lineage. Marriage with first cousins, with its intensities and possibility of dysfunction, was common in isolated communities in the agrarian South.

Like Doll, Bob Smith was very handsome. His indigenous blood was evident in a noble eyebrow, good bone structure, straight figure and dark, deep eyes. His hair was as dark as coal. Doll would be bedridden with tuberculosis throughout their marriage. Like his uncle and son-in-law, White Mansell, Bob Smith worked hard as a sharecropper - and occasional liquor smuggler during Prohibition - to support his disabled wife and eight children. The bond of poverty was tight on the family and on Elvis' mother, Gladys Love Smith (1912-1958), born on April 25, 1912.

In 1931, when Gladys was 19, her father Bob Smith died. It was completely sudden and unexpected. Everyone expected the sick Doll to die first. As per his request, he was buried in an unmarked grave. So Gladys didn't have a strong role model for a mother, and Vernon doesn't have a strong bond with his father. Both facts that had a great impact on Elvis Presley's life.

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VERNON & GLADYS PRESLEY

Vernon and Gladys, 1933

Vernon Presley was just seventeen years old when he married Gladys Love Smith, four years his senior, in 1933. Like his relatives before him, Vernon worked any odd job that came along. For a time, he and his older brother Vester devoted themselves to growing cotton, corn and soybeans, and raising a few pigs. He later got a job with the WPA, a government program that provided jobs during the Depression. Next he drove a delivery truck from McCarty, a grocery store he wholesaled in Tupelo, delivering items to stores across northeastern Mississippi. These, then, were the Presley genes, passed on from generation to generation, some of which, no doubt, were inherited by the child who was to be born in that two-bedroom house in the hills of East Tupelo.

Gladys' sister Clettes married Vester. So two brothers married two sisters. Few know, but in the beginning, the roles were reversed. Vester started dating Gladys. Vernon, 18 months his junior, originally dated Clettes.

"Yeah, I dated Gladys a few times and Vernon dated Clettes. Gladys didn't like my attitude. Like I always said, I was pretty wild in those days. So Gladys stopped seeing me and we stopped seeing the Smith girls for awhile. So, Vernon started dating Gladys and soon there was only one object of his affection - Gladys;" recalled Vester.

On June 17, 1933, Gladys and Vernon eloped and were married in Pontotoc County, where they were not known and could lie about their ages. Vernon said he was 22; Gladys, 19 - but Vernon was actually a minor, 17, and Gladys was already 20. Gladys would hide her true age for most of her life. In her book "Elvis and Gladys", Elaine Dundy says:

"Impetuity and impulsiveness played a big part in Gladys' character. She did n't have half measures, she didn't just get half angry or think about her self-protection." Elvis would inherit from Gladys her unpredictable impulses.

Vernon's (misspelled as "Virnon") and Gladys' marriage certificate

In late June 1934, Gladys knew she was pregnant. By her fifth month, she was pretty sure she was going to have twins—she was unusually large, could feel both babies kicking, and had a history of twins on both sides of the family. Gladys earned $2 a day at the Tupelo Garment Company, while Vernon worked several odd jobs, including one on the Orville S. Bean dairy farm. With $180 that he borrowed from Bean after learning of Gladys's pregnancy, Vernon began building a house, and the couple moved into it in December of that year.

Vernon and Gladys Presley's home, 1936

Elvis' crib was built by his father, Vernon, with the help of his brother Vester and their father, Jessie, who built a relatively spacious four-bedroom house on the land next door. Located near a highway that transported residents between Tupelo and Birmingham, Alabama, and nestled in the midst of a cluster of small, rough houses along Old Saltillo Road, the house had no electricity (it was connected to the grid but not used due to cost) or running water, and was similar to the dwellings built in villages at the time.
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ELVIS PRESLEY

Just before dawn on January 8, 1935, Elvis Aron Presley was born. Gladys had a second child that morning, a stillborn twin identical to Elvis named Jesse Garon. Elvis would be her only child.

Elvis 'Aron' Presley birth certificate

After the birth Gladys was close to death and was taken, along with Elvis, to Tupelo Hospital. After returning home, some of her family and friends noticed that she was super protective of her newborn son. Paranoid, afraid that something bad would happen to him. Gladys' mother, Doll Smith, died in 1935 and was buried alongside her husband Bob Smith, again in an unmarked grave. Like Elvis, Gladys lost her mother at a young age. Gladys was 23; Elvis, 22.

Gladys, Elvis and Vernon - 1937

Due to poverty, Vernon and Gladys were only able to take the first photo with their son in 1937, after saving for a few months. The photo became famous after appearing on the cover of the album "Elvis Country" in 1971. Apparently it became easier to photograph from that year, as there are several photos of Elvis in his childhood and adolescence. Elvis would start studying like any normal child, moving with his parents to Memphis at the end of seventh grade and enrolling at Humes High School for eighth grade and high school.

Gladys continued to have poor health over the years and often took sleeping pills. Elvis stole medication from her—hence the first signs of his future uncontrollable addiction. Even sick, she was still able to enjoy her son's successful early years until her death on August 14, 1958.

Vernon moved on with his life and married Davada "Dee" Stanley in 1960. Elvis didn't like the idea of replacing his mother at first, but eventually understood his father. They became more and more bonded over the years until problems with the Memphis Mafia and Elvis' indiscriminate use of medication soured their relationship. The singer's near overdose in February 1975 caused Vernon to have a heart attack a few days later. The loss of his son in 1977 was too much for him, leaving him in a state of deep depression and leading to his death on June 26, 1979.

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'ARON' OR 'AARON'?

To this day there is a heated debate about whether Elvis' last name is 'Aron' or 'Aaron'. On his birth certificate (seen above) it clearly says 'Aron', but many claim that, being a tribute to Vernon's best friend Aaron Kennedy, 'Aaron' is correct.

However, 'Aron' was the spelling chosen by the Presleys, either by mistake or to resemble the middle name of Elvis' stillborn brother, Jesse Garon. Elvis tried to officially change the spelling to 'Aaron' during his lifetime so that he would remember the biblical character (who also has his spelling confused - Aron or Aaron), but ended up discovering that, apart from his birth certificate, in all other records it was 'Aaron', including enrollment at Humes High School in Memphis. Upon his death, knowing his son's wish, Vernon asked that the name placed on the tombstone be Elvis Aaron Presley.

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ELVIS & PRISCILLA

Elvis and Priscilla in Germany, 1959

Elvis met Priscilla Ann Beaulieu on September 13, 1959, while serving in the US Army in Germany. Born on April 24, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York, Priscilla lost her biological father, James Wagner, an Air Force pilot, in an accident when she was ten years old. Her mother, Anna Lillian Iversen, then married Paul Beaulieu, who became Priscilla's father.

After six months, the romance was interrupted by Elvis' return to the US. The couple did not meet again until 1962, when Elvis used his wisdom to first convince Paul Beaulieu to let her spend two weeks with him in Los Angeles (Paul agreed, but he made heavy demands), then to let her spend the Christmas at Graceland and finally living with him in the mansion in Memphis.

Five years and several crises later (the biggest being caused by Elvis' relationship with "female Elvis" Ann Margret in 1963), the couple were married in Las Vegas. Elvis had proposed just before Christmas 1966, and had set a future date for the wedding, May 1, 1967 - a Monday, a low-traffic day in Vegas. In true Colonel Parker fashion, a press conference was organized minutes after the wedding ended, followed by a reception for 100 guests, many from the press.

Exactly nine months later, on February 1, 1968, Lisa Marie Presley, the couple's first and only child, was born. Elvis adored her and pampered her with jewelry and gifts at all times, rarely disciplining her for a mistake. As with other aspects of his life, Elvis' love for Lisa was excessive.

Elvis and Priscilla would start having a lot of relationship problems not long after. The situation worsened in late 1971, when Priscilla finally filed for divorce. The lawsuit ended on October 9, 1973. In one of their last phone conversations, Priscilla told Elvis that "one day maybe it's our time again". Elvis knew there wouldn't be another chance. This perhaps led to the rages and self-medication of 1974 and the hospitalizations of 1975.

After Vernon's death, Priscilla took care of all operations concerning Elvis' estate. From 1982 onwards, she headed Elvis Presley Estate - an organization that now has the rights to almost anything about Elvis. Nowadays she is the mains spokesperson in said organization and in a lot of events concerning the King of Rock.

Priscilla declared in April 2022 that she was happy and confident with Elvis' new film - which hit theaters on June 24 of that year - but then, due to the fact that the production exposed her negative points, she joined Sofia Coppola to produce "her own truth", the box office failure "Priscilla", which opened in November 2023 and told an alternative version of events.

Lisa Marie considered the script disrespectful to her father's memory and removed Priscilla from EPE after several monetary discrepancies appeared in her favor while managing Elvis' assets. In order not to interfere in the business, the ex-wife demanded that Riley Keough, Lisa's daughter, pay her a million dollar pension for life and give her the right to be buried at Graceland. Her relationship with the Presley family has been solely commercial since the end of 2023.

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LISA MARIE PRESLEY

Lisa spent the first few years of her life at Graceland. According to an audio from a concert, Lisa called her father "Ailvis". When Elvis died, on August 16, 1977, it was with her that he exchanged his last words before going to read in his private bathroom. She felt the loss of her father very much and also inherited his passion for music.

In the ten years following Elvis' death, Lisa became rebellious and began using drugs, proving to be a highly undisciplined person. She quit drugs at age 18 and started following Scientology, a highly controversial religion, under Priscilla's influence, becoming interested in songwriting. She quickly put that aside, knowing the weight of being Elvis Presley's daughter.

At the age of twenty she married her longtime boyfriend, musician Danny Keough. She had two children, Dannielle Riley Keough e Benjamin Keough, in a relationship that lasted six years.

In January 1994, Lisa announced to the media that they were splitting up. Four months later she married Michael Jackson. They had met when she was seven and used to go to his concerts. Tired of Jackson—who always seemed troublesome—Lisa filed for divorce in 1996. A few months later Lisa would do her only live appearance singing "Don't Cry Daddy" in a duet with Elvis for the first "Elvis: The Concert".

She entered into a relationship with musician John Oszaica in 2000, but left him when she met Nicholas Cage at a party. Lisa and the actor got married in 2002, but their happiness lasted only 108 days. Cage is the only person outside the Presley family to have been allowed into Elvis' bedroom.

In 2003, shortly after recording other duets with her father, Lisa Marie released her first music album, which defined her and separated her from her father figure. A new marriage came in 2006, this time with her guitarist, producer and music director, Michael Lockwood. She had the twins Harper Vivian Ann Lockwood and Finlay Aaron Love in 2008.

Struggling with drugs since her youth, Lisa Marie came to the brink of bankruptcy in 2016, when she discovered that several people around her were diverting part of her fortune to personal interests. The following year she would file for divorce from Lockwood, claiming to have discovered child pornography on his computer.

Lisa turned the table in 2018: She went through a successful rehab, regained custody of her daughters (who were with Priscilla) and recorded a new duet with Elvis, "Where No One Stands Alone". Recovered and sober, she started thinking about producing new records and dedicating herself to her daughters.

Sadly, a new batch of unfortunate events that started to unfold in the next year put her back in a spiral seemingly started by the use of antidepressants. She then started to be photographed in public places almost unrecognizable - overweight, with deep circles under her eyes and apparently unconcerned with her appearance. In a lot of ways, she looked very much like Elvis by this time.

The death of her son Benjamin on July 12, 2020 - an apparent suicide - was one of the hardest blows of her life. Recently, an insider claimed that Lisa was fine and recovering by the day. According to him, she said that she felt her father's spirit close to her and wanted to start working with his legacy again. The informant also said that Lisa wanted to move back to Graceland and hoped that this would start a new and prosperous moment in her life.

Lisa appeared in public for the first time in a long time on January 8, 2023, when she led her father's 88th birthday festivities. She looked fine and even attended other appointments alongside Priscilla. She suffered a cardiac arrest on January 12th, not resisting and passing away at the age of 54.

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DANIELLE RILEY KEOUGH 

Lisa's eldest daughter was only known for her work as a director, producer, actress and model before taking over  the Presley empire shortly after Lisa's death in January 2023.

In accordance with Lisa's wishes in her will, Riley cut off Priscilla's reach at EPE and became the guardian of the twins Finley and Harper, directly taking over the family business. Riley also follows one of Elvis' wishes: to keep the Presleys' things always within the Presley family, without outside influences.

Riley is also in charge of overseeing the production of a memoir written by Lisa, which will be released in late 2024. According to sources, the book could bring truths never before revealed to the public.

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EDITED FROM: Elvis Australia (except the segments "Elvis & Priscilla", "Lisa Marie Presley" & "Danielle Riley Keough")
Segments "Elvis & Priscilla", "Lisa Marie Presley" & "Danielle Riley Keough": EAP Index
PHOTOS (except Lisa Marie, Riley and documents): Elvis Australia
Photos (Lisa Marie, Riley and documentos): Google