The sole child of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, has died at age 54, according to her mother.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said.
Lisa Marie, also a singer, was rushed to hospital earlier on Thursday. US media say she suffered cardiac arrest.
She was found unresponsive at her home in Calabasas, California, sources told US outlet TMZ.
“She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement.
“We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss.”
Her mother gave no details about the possible cause of death.
Citing a source close to Lisa Marie Presley, TMZ reported that the star was found unresponsive in her bedroom on Thursday morning. At about the same time her former husband Danny Keough, who also lives at the property, arrived and performed CPR.
The outlet said that she had suffered a “full arrest” before a bystander administered epinephrine – commonly known as adrenaline – to help her regain a pulse.
Paramedics arrived shortly afterwards, taking Presley to hospital.
Days before her death, she had visited Graceland, the mansion owned by her father in Memphis, Tennessee, to celebrate what would have been his 88th birthday on 8 January.
Tributes started pouring in from across America soon after Lisa Marie’s death was reported.
Actor Tom Hanks played her father’s manager Col Tom Parker in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic Elvis. On behalf of the couple, Hanks’ wife Rita Wilson posted on Instagram that their hearts were “broken”.
“Tom and I had spent some time with the family during the Elvis movie promotional tour. Lisa Marie was so honest and direct, vulnerable, in a state of anticipation about the movie,” she wrote.
“She spoke so eloquently about her father, what the movie meant to her, that it was a celebration of her dad.”
Lisa Marie Presley was last seen in public on Tuesday night at the Golden Globes Awards in Beverly Hills.
Accompanied by her mother, the pair were seen in tears as they watched the show, where Austin Butler won best actor in a film drama, for his portrayal of her father in Luhrmann’s movie.
During an emotional speech, the actor thanked the Presley family for their help during the film.
“Thank you guys, thank you for opening your hearts, your memories, your home to me,” Butler said. “Lisa Marie, Priscilla, I love you forever.”
Born in 1968, Lisa Marie went on to follow in her father’s footsteps and forged a career in music. The star released three albums, with her 2003 debut studio album selling hundreds of thousands of copies and receiving generally positive reviews.
The star was also well-known for a series of high-profile marriages to pop legend Michael Jackson, actor Nicholas Cage and musicians Danny Keough and Michael Lockwood.
She had four children, including the actress Riley Keough. Presley’s son, Benjamin Keough, killed himself in 2020.
Last August, Presley wrote an an essay on grief for US publication People about “the horrific reality” of how she felt after her son’s death.
“I’ve dealt with death, grief and loss since the age of nine years old,” she wrote, referring to her age when Elvis died in 1977. “I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime and somehow, I’ve made it this far.”
Grammy-award winning songwriter Diane Warren expressed her sorrow at the “horrible news”. The singer added that “the entire world is sending love and prayers to Priscilla and Lisa Marie’s children right now”.
Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson also paid tribute, saying was “hard to take when someone so young and full of life passes on”.
US pop star Pink described Presley her as “one of a kind” and “smart as a whip, sensitive [and] talented”, while Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin wrote a message for Presley’s mother Priscilla.
“I had the chance to know Cilla Presley when I was on Dancing With the Stars and as a mother, I can’t imagine the pain she must be going through with the untimely passing of Lisa Marie,” she said.
Source: BBC