The singer's legacy and his heirs were at the forefront of many news stories over the last year.
Through triumphs and tragedies, the enduring legacy of Elvis Presley's family lives on.
The late rock legend and his family were frequent newsmakers throughout the last year, beginning with the 2023 awards season buzz for Baz Luhrmann's Elvis and a Golden Globe win for actor Austin Butler's performance as The King. Just days later, the Presley family joy turned somber with the devastating death of Elvis' only child, Lisa Marie Presley.
The months that followed included enough highs and lows to rival a big budget Hollywood drama -- including by a star-making turn in Daisy Jones & the Six for Lisa Marie's daughter, Riley Keough, and the introduction of her infant daughter -- Elvis' first great-grandchild -- to the world.
As the year drew to a close, the "Blue Suede Shoes" singer received the big screen treatment once again in Sofia Coppolla's Priscilla, while Priscilla Presley herself became embroiled in a legal dispute with granddaughter Riley over Lisa Marie's estate.
Through it all, the legendary singer's impact on pop culture remains a point of fascination across the globe.
ET is breaking down everything fans need to know about where the Presley family has been and where they stand today.
Elvis Presley
Elvis is, of course, a cultural icon hailed as the King of Rock and Roll. Though the metrics of his career accomplishments vary from today’s standards, he is still considered to be one of the most commercially successful artists of all time. Elvis received the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award at the age of 36 and, in 2018, was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The star’s magnetism also extended to the screen, as he starred in 31 films, two concert docs, and three network TV specials.
According to Graceland, Elvis' worldwide record sales are estimated to exceed one billion -- more than anyone in record industry history.
The musician died of a heart attack in 1977. He was 42.
Up until the start of 2024, Elvis had maintained the longstanding record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart by a solo artist. His reign was bested only recently by Taylor Swift.
Priscilla Presley
Elvis and Priscilla wed in 1967 after a controversial courtship that began when Elvis was 24 and Priscilla was 14. In a wide-ranging November interview for Talk TV's Piers Morgan Uncensored, Priscilla, 78, addressed critics who have suggested that the relationship was inappropriate and that Elvis had been grooming her, based on their ages at the time.
"It was a different time," Priscilla said. "It was the early '60s."
Pressing further, Morgan suggested that Elvis would be "canceled" for pursuing a teenager in today's post-MeToo world.
"I understand, but I was 14 in Germany and there was always people around," Priscilla said. "Our talks were, yes, private but he never, ever, ever was aggressive, nor did he ever make love to me. I was somehow, like I said earlier, someone he trusted to talk to and pour his heart out."
The Presleys went their separate ways and divorced in 1973, but remained close. Priscilla went on to become a co-executor of her late ex-husband’s estate in 1979 and is credited with turning the singer’s Memphis, Tennessee, home – Graceland – into a profitable tourist destination. The mansion has been declared a National Historic Landmark and it attracts around 650,000 visitors annually.
"To be honest with you, I never wanted to marry after him. I never had any desire," Priscilla reportedly said during a November Q&A at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. "No one could ever match him."
That's not to suggest she didn't have other loves. Priscilla was famously linked to Robert Kardashian in 1975, before he went on to wed Kris Jenner. (In another interesting connection to the Kar-Jenner family, Elvis dated Linda Thompson around the same time, prior to her marriage to Caitlyn Jenner. Kris and Caitlin went on to be married for 22 years.)
Priscilla also shared a long-running relationship with Marco Garibaldi, with whom she had another child, son Navarone Garibaldi Garcia.
The early days of Priscilla and Elvis' romance is explored in the new film Priscilla, starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi. It’s based on Priscilla's own 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me.
While Priscilla has publicly endorsed the film, praising Coppola for doing an "amazing job," a 2023 report from Variety claimed that Lisa Marie had allegedly threatened to publicly denounce the film for portraying Elvis as a "predator" prior to her untimely death earlier that year.
"I am worried that my mother isn't seeing the nuance here or realizing the way in which Elvis will be perceived when this movie comes out," Lisa Marie reportedly said in an email to the filmmaker. "I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father's legacy. I am worried she doesn’t understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have."
Today, Priscilla’s role in the business of Elvis is evolving. After a highly publicized legal dispute over Lisa Marie’s will, she and granddaughter Riley came to an agreement that will see Priscilla serve as a special advisor for Elvis Presley Enterprises while Riley is the sole owner of Graceland.
The settlement also formalizes plans for Priscilla to one day be buried in the Meditation Garden of Graceland in the location closest to Elvis without moving any existing gravesite.
"When my mom passed, there was a lot of chaos in every aspect of our lives. Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us," Riley told Vanity Fair in August. "Everyone was in a bit of a panic to understand how we move forward, and it just took a minute to understand the details of the situation, because it’s complicated. We are a family, but there’s also a huge business side of our family. So I think that there was clarity that needed to be had."
Riley continued, explaining her grandmother’s deep rooted ties to Graceland.
"There was a bit of upheaval, but now everything's going to be how it was. She's a beautiful woman, and she was a huge part of creating my grandfather’s legacy and Graceland. It's very important to her. He was the love of her life. Anything that would suggest otherwise in the press makes me sad because, at the end of the day, all she wants is to love and protect Graceland and the Presley family and the legacy. That's her whole life. So it’s a big responsibility she has tried to take on. None of that stuff has really ever been a part of our relationship prior. She's just been my grandma."
Lisa Marie Presley
The only child of Elvis and Priscilla, Lisa Marie was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on Feb. 1, 1968 and split her time between Los Angeles and Memphis as a child before moving to L.A. full-time after her father’s death.
She eventually followed in Elvis' footsteps, making music of her own.
Lisa Marie released her debut album, To Whom It May Concern, in 2003. The album saw great success, landing at no. 5 on Billboard's Top 200 chart. The album was certified gold and went on to sell over 500,000 copies. Later that year, Lisa Marie was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Following the success of her first album, Lisa Marie opened up about her life in the public eye with The Seattle Times.
"I was this tabloid phantom prior, this sensationalistic image. And then when they hear you are going to do a record, they think, 'Oh, some celebrity kid trying to do a record,'" she told the outlet in 2003. "I think they expected something far from what I delivered. They didn't have a clue to what it was about."
Her second album, Now What, was released in April 2005, and went on to debut at no. 9 on the Billboard 200 charts. Lisa Marie released her third and final album, Storm and Grace, in 2012.
She had several high-profile relationships, including four marriages to Danny Keough, Michael Jackson, Nicolas Cage and Michael Lockwood.
The latter part of her life was spent being a mom to her four children. Lisa Marie welcomed daughter Riley in 1989 and son Benjamin in 1992 with her first husband, Danny. She later gave birth to twins Harper and Finley, whom she shares with Lockwood, in 2008. Benjamin died in July 2020.
Lisa Marie died unexpectedly on Jan. 12, 2023. She was 54.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office, Lisa Marie died from sequelae of small bowel obstruction.
In an August interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Priscilla said that she knew something was off with Lisa Marie shortly before her death.
"I did know there was something not right," Priscilla said at the time. Still, she remembered being with her daughter and having a laugh at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles as they celebrated Butler's Golden Globes win. The outing was cut short as Lisa Marie said she was experiencing pain.
"We had just gotten there, you go down all these stairs," Priscilla remembered of the evening. "I tripped a little bit because I had these high heels on, and she started laughing so hard. I started laughing. We hadn’t even had a drink yet. She goes, 'Oh my God, Mom, you can’t even have a drink.' It was fun, a fun memory. Then we sat down and ordered drinks, and she says, 'Mom, my stomach hurts really bad.' We immediately got up and left."
Priscilla said that a couple days later, she got a call from Lisa Marie's ex-husband, Danny, who told her to come to the hospital, but it was too late.
"I got right in the car, but she was already gone," Priscilla said. "I still can’t believe it. I don’t wish this on any mother."
In January, it was announced that Lisa Marie's memoir, which she had been working on prior to her passing, will be released on Oct. 15.
The untitled book is described by Random House as a "raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind" account that will offer an intimate look into one of America's most storied families.
The publisher promised a revealing narrative with "never-before-heard recollections in Lisa Marie’s own voice," providing an unprecedented glimpse into the personal life of the Presley family. The audiobook edition, to be released by Penguin Random House Audio, will be narrated by her daughter, Riley, adding a poignant touch to the experience.
Before her death, Lisa Marie expressed her desire for Riley to finish the memoir, her publisher said, recognizing the importance of sharing her story with the world. Riley, who listened to hours of tape recordings made by her mother, revealed that Lisa Marie shared stories about her unconditional love for her famous father, moments spent alone with him at Graceland, and the solace it provided amidst the chaos of her life.
Riley Keough
A rising star in her own right, Riley has gracefully juggled life, loss and a career in Hollywood.
Riley was born in Santa Monica, California, on May 29, 1989, just five days after her grandmother's 54th birthday.
Her parents split when Riley was just five, though Danny and Lisa Marie appeared to remain close friends. Riley divided her time between them growing up -- living with her dad in Hawaii and Los Angeles and spending time with her mother in L.A. and at Graceland.
In her August Vanity Fair profile, Riley admitted, "I always had positive and beautiful memories and association with Graceland. Now, a lot of my family’s buried there, so it’s a place of great sadness at this point in my life."
Following the sudden and devastating loss of her mother, Riley managed to look for a silver lining through the wreckage.
"I have been through a great deal of pain and I’ve had my.… Parts of me have died and I’ve felt like my heart has exploded, but I also feel.… I’m trying to think of how to phrase this," she said. "I have strengthened the qualities that have come about through adversity."
Riley also expanded on her family's musical legacy this year with her role as a rock star in Daisy Jones & the Six.
"I certainly wouldn't put that pressure on it. I don't know if there is continuing my grandfather's legacy, it’s its own sort of thing to me. But it was a really fun experience for me," Riley told ET of making the show. "I'm not a musician -- or I am now I guess. I've been interested in film my whole life and so for me, it was more really loving to get to have a relationship with music in that way."
"I've listened to music and my whole family are musicians and I've been around this world a lot and been on tour and all that kind of stuff," she continued. "But I'd never really done it myself. So for me, it was more about my personal relationship with getting to play music, which was fun."
Riley will next star opposite Jesse Eisenberg in David and Nathan Zellner's film Sasquatch Sunset, premiering later this month at the Sundance Film Festival.
At home, Riley is embarking on her own journey as a new mother. She and husband Ben Smith-Petersen welcomed their first child, and Elvis’ first great-grandchild, including a sweet and subtle link to her lineage in the baby's name.
Tupelo Storm Smith-Petersen was born in August 2022 via surrogate. Tupelo, Mississippi, was the birth place of Elvis, and Storm was the middle name of Riley’s late brother.
Benjamin Keough
Born Oct. 21, 1992, Benjamin stayed mostly out of the spotlight throughout his life, which was cut tragically short.
Lisa Marie’s second child, and only son, died July 12, 2020. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner revealed that Benjamin's cause of death was ruled a suicide by intraoral shotgun wound. He was 27.
"Lisa Marie is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter, Riley," Lisa Marie's rep told ET at the time. "She adored that boy. He was the love of her life."
In a gut-wrenching post shared on social media shortly after his death, Riley paid tribute to her younger brother.
"Mornings are the hardest. I forget you’re gone. I can’t cry because of the fear that I will never stop. A pain that’s new to me," Riley wrote next to a slideshow of photos of the two together.
"You. There are no words for you. Angel is the closest I could think of. Pure light. Baby brother. Best friend. Wild man. Intellectual. Witness to my life. Twin soul. Protector. Too sensitive for this harsh world."
The Paterno actress continued by adding that she hopes her brother gives her "strength to endure the giant hole you’ve left in my heart. I hope you give me the strength to eat. I hope you’re cradled in love. I hope you feel my love. I hope you feel god."
She concluded by writing that she can't believe he's gone, "Not you sweet Ben Ben. Anyone but you. I guess this is true heartbreak. I hope we meet again."
In 2022, Lisa Marie penned a raw and heartbreaking essay about the loss for National Grief Awareness Day.
In a first-person article published by People, Lisa Marie wrote that she's seen "more than anyone's fair share" of grief and death in her lifetime, beginning with the death of her father when she was only nine years old. She also commented on how her "beautiful, beautiful son" was "so much like his grandfather on so many levels that he actually scared me."
Following her death, Lisa Marie was laid to rest next to her son in the Meditation Garden at Graceland.
Harper and Finley Lockwood
The youngest of Lisa Marie's children, twins Harper and Finley have kept a low profile over the years. The teens stepped out with the rest of the Presley women at TCL Chinese Theatre's Handprint Ceremony in their honor on June 21, 2022.
Harper and Finley weren't seen again until the following summer, when Priscilla posted a photo of them on Instagram to celebrate their middle school graduation. They both attended their mother's memorial at Graceland, but did not speak publicly.
Today, the girls are 15 and in the custody of their father, Michael Lockwood. In October, the rock guitarist shared a look at their birthday celebrations.
"#fifteenyears… it goes by in a blink of an eye 👁️ Mega amounts of love abound. 🙏🏼 Many Thanks to everyone who sent their love and Birthday wishes. #twinsisters #harpervivienneannelockwood #finleyaaronlovelockwood," the proud dad wrote on social media.
Michael kept his daughters out of the picture, and instead, he shared a photo of a piano decorated with red-and-white heart balloons, gifts and birthday cards. In the next slide, multiple cakes, cupcakes and a box of cookies appeared next to flowers. Michael ended the photo carousel with a picture of a gold banner that read, "Happy Birthday."
For more on the Presley family, check out the links below.
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