The son of Priscilla Presley opens up to ET about sharing his addiction struggles to help kids stay away from drugs.
Navarone Garcia is opening up about his struggles with drug addiction and how he's sharing his story to help the younger generation with the aid of Michael DeLeon, founder of Steered Straight Inc.
Navarone is the only son of Priscilla Presley, who welcomed the 37-year-old musician with her ex, producer Marco Garibaldi, a decade after her 1973 divorce from Elvis Presley. Navarone's older half-sister and Priscilla's first child, her daughter Lisa Marie Presley with Elvis, died last January at age 54.
As he grew up, Navarone tried his best to stay out of the spotlight. Then, in his teenage years, Navarone began using heroin and fentanyl.
"It started with weed in high school and, by the time I was 16, 17, I had kinda tried everything," Navarone tells ET's Kevin Frazier about his journey into addiction. "I don't know if you can say [I became a] casual user of heroin, but I didn't have a problem with it until 2015. All of a sudden I just noticed a difference."
The musician recalls experiencing "insane withdrawals" after becoming used to using "two or three times a day."
"It [got to] where I was using 40 times a day," he says. "That's a lot on the body to handle and it became intolerable and unsustainable. I actually checked myself into a rehab and the first thing they do when you go to rehab is drug test you. I said, 'I just shot up in the bathroom and I'm gonna be positive for cocaine and heroin,' and they came back and said, 'You actually tested negative for heroin.'"
Navarone shares that when he asked his drug dealer why he tested negative for heroin, it was revealed that he had been sold fentanyl. "I just lost the color in my face. I didn't realize I was doing pure fentanyl for so long," the musician recalls.
DeLeon notes that fentanyl poisoning is the "number one cause of death in Americans 18 to 45 years of age and the fastest growing demographic dying from it is 14 years of age and younger."
"We're dealing with children who are going to parties and getting gummy bears to fentanyl in vape cartridges, fentanyl in marijuana and cocaine. It's a poison and it's plaguing America," the Steered Straight founder tells ET.
According to the non-profit's official website, DeLeon founded the organization in 2007, after being released from prison for a gang-related homicide. A former addict, DeLeon created Steered Straight to "carry an important message to youth on the extreme dangers of drugs, gang involvement and associated criminal activity."
"Steered Straight's program reaches out to children, teens and young adults with a message of reality about life choices and the importance of consequential thinking so they understand that there are consequences to their actions," the website reads. "The reality of the message comes from Michael himself, who was entwined in the life of drugs and traveled a troubled road to get to his future."
"This is my 17th year since coming out of prison [and] 22 years free from drug and alcohol. I wanted to help other people 'cause I can't reach every kid in America and I want to find authentic people with incredible stories," DeLeon explains. "...People who are being hurt or put down try to seek out refuge [and] escape through a substance. Fentanyl is just destroying people's lives, it's plaguing our country and we have to do more. Education is key and [the organization] developed educational curriculums for families, so when we go to the schools we implement this in-depth [programming] to save kids, to save families. It takes a village, you know?"
DeLeon shares that he and Navarone connected through Priscilla, who received an award from Steered Straight for "all her selfless work [and] her advocacy."
"Navarone was there and he said, 'I want to do what you do, I want to go talk to kids in schools,'" DeLeon recalls. He shares that the two stayed in contact for almost a year before the musician officially teamed up with the organization to spread the word of its programming. "Now he's going out on the road with me, impacting kids like you've never seen. It's incredible," DeLeon adds. "He's so engaging, turning his pain into purpose, taking his story and using it as a cautionary tale, an educational tale for young people."
When it comes to his road to sobriety, Navarone says he reached his breaking point in 2020. "It just got to the point where I was doing nothing. I knew it wasn't going any further and there was only one outcome if I continued going down that road," he confesses. "I could feel myself getting closer to the edge of not coming back."
His mother's support was pivotal to his sobriety.
"She's been there for the beginning [and] end, and I always [tried] to keep it from her 'cause it's hard to see somebody not only struggling but also when [they're] trying to stop, it's not easy to watch. I think that's the hardest part to watch when they're trying so hard and struggling to stop. So I would try to keep it from her," Navarone shares. "But after a week of withdrawals alone, I said, 'Mom, I'm a week into it but I got to come to your house and I'm going to be there for another two weeks,' and she said, 'OK, you need some soup?'"
"I would need help crawling to the bathroom... she would be assisting," he adds. "She was amazing the whole way."
But while his mother's support aided him through his recovery from fentanyl addiction, Navarone emphasized the importance of his decision to get clean for himself rather than anyone else.
"I had to do it for myself. As much as she wanted it and as much as she asked and tried... I would like to say that I tried to [quit for her] but it had to be my own decision," he states.
DeLeon agrees, adding that "it's about being clean for yourself because if you can't do it for yourself you're not gonna do it for anybody else."
Navarone has also found solace in working with his Santa Cruz-formed, synth rock band, Them Guns, which has new music dropping later this year.
"I was in the midst of [my addiction recovery] when I wrote a lot of [the new music] and going through a lot," he shares with ET about the band's upcoming releases. "We've been waiting to put this out for about a year and now I think we're ready to tour with it."
Them Guns' first album was 2017's From the Shadows and the band is releasing its follow-up, Dark Horizon, this year.
When asked to describe the band's sound, Navarone quips, "One that's been given would be 'Muse with balls,'" citing influences like Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails.
And yes, Priscilla is a fan. "She likes it. You know she's used to the best so..." Navarone says when asked if his mother has heard his music.
The group is planning a tour for this fall, but for now, Navarone says he's enjoying his time using his real-life experience to help educate kids about the dangers of substance abuse.
"The response from the students that we've had has been so strong," he shares. "They contact me afterwards -- a lot of them are going through a lot. A lot of them are musicians, they send me some of the lyrics or they send me some of the music they've made. I try to support them and respond to all of that as well."
The musician also shares that he's working on publishing a memoir that chronicles his journey beyond addiction. "This world is just getting crazier and people really need to just be there for each other," he says when asked what he wants to share with readers. "I see so many people that try to bring other people down and I think we all need to bring each other together again."
"It feels so much better for yourself to make other people feel better, I don't see why so many people are trying to bring other people down," he adds. "I'd like to get more people to support other people as well."
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