Always on his mind. Austin Butler is mourning the death of Lisa Marie Presley after portraying her father in Baz Luhrmann‘s Elvis.
“My heart is completely shattered for Riley, Finley, Harper and Priscilla at the tragic and unexpected loss of Lisa Marie,” Butler, 31, said in a statement to E! News on Friday, January 13. “I am eternally grateful for the time I was lucky enough to be near her bright light and will forever cherish the quiet moments we shared. Her warmth, her love and her authenticity will always be remembered.”
Us Weekly confirmed on Thursday, January 12, that the Tennessee native was hospitalized after going into cardiac arrest. Hours later, her mother, Priscilla Presley, announced that Lisa Marie died at age 54.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” the 77-year-old, who was married to Elvis Presley from 1967 to 1973, told People in a statement. “She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers. At this time there will be no further comment.”
Two days before her hospitalization, Lisa Marie and her mom cheered on Butler at the 2023 Golden Globes, where he was nominated for his performance in Elvis. When the Carries Diaries alum took the stage to accept his first-ever Golden Globe, he thanked the late rock star’s family for their support.
“Thank you for opening your hearts, your memories [and] your home to me,” Butler gushed on Tuesday, January 10. “Lisa Marie, Priscilla, I love you forever.”
The Dune: Part Two actor earned critical acclaim for embodying the “Jailhouse Rock” crooner in the 2022 biopic. Before his Golden Globe victory, Butler spoke candidly with Elvis’ only daughter about taking on the huge project.
“Looking at your dad, you watch him on stage and you just go, ‘How are you doing that?'” he said in the June 2022 special Exclusively Elvis. “It’s so remarkable, and it’s hard not to feel like you’re so small in comparison and that you’re not enough. And so, for me all those things that I could then find that clicked into his spirit then became the thing that carried me through.”
Lisa Marie couldn’t help but celebrate Butler’s performance at the time. “It’s almost as if he channeled him,” she raved. “He put everything he had, his heart, his soul, everything he had into researching, reading, watching, learning. He honored him in every way possible.”
One month prior, the “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” singer encouraged her Twitter followers to support the film. “I’ve seen Baz Luhrmann’s movie Elvis twice now,” she wrote in May 2022. “Let me tell you that it is nothing short of spectacular. Absolutely exquisite. Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father’s heart & soul beautifully.”
Ahead of her death, Lisa Marie experienced plenty of ups and downs in the public eye. Her father died in August 1977, four years after finalizing his divorce from Priscilla. The “Sticks and Stones” artist went on to get married four times: to Danny Keough from 1988 to 1994, to Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1996, to Nicolas Cage from 2002 to 2004 and to Michael Lockwood from 2006 to 2021.
Along with Priscilla, Lisa Marie is survived by her eldest daughter, Riley Keough, whom she shared with Danny, 58. The former couple’s son, Benjamin Keough, died by suicide in July 2020 at age 27. Lisa Marie was also the mother of twin daughters Harper and Finley, whom she welcomed with Lockwood, 61, in October 2008.
