Priscilla Presley Breaks Down in Tears While Reflecting on Lisa Marie Presley's Death

Content warning: This story discusses suicide.

Priscilla Presley got emotional remembering her late daughter Lisa Marie Presley's final months in a new interview.

Lisa Marie, the only child of Priscilla and the late legendary singer Elvis Presley, died at age 54 in January from complications resulting from small bowel obstruction, coroner records showed. Her death followed the passing of her maternal grandmother, Anna Iverson, at 95 in 2021 and also came more than two years after her son Benjamin Keough died by suicide at 27.

"It was unbearable. I lost my mother, I lost my grandson, and I lost my daughter. It's still shocking that we don't have her," Priscilla told Piers Morgan on his TalkTV show Piers Morgan Uncensored Nov. 2. "That was the hardest thing for her, losing Ben. He took his own life. He was the love of her life. That child, she adored him. She would do anything for him. Anything."

The 78-year-old recalled one moment a couple months before Lisa Marie's death when the singer acutely felt the loss of her son.

"We were in Memphis, we were sitting up in a suite and she said, 'Mom, I don't know if I want to be here,'" Priscilla continued. "I go, 'What are you talking about?' And she'd go on about Ben and how she is still grieving."

When asked if Lisa Marie was feeling almost suicidal herself at the time, Priscilla said, "I think so."

"It's so sad," Piers commented, after which Priscilla teared up and said, "I know."

Putting her hand up, she added, "Don't talk anymore."

During the interview, Priscilla also recalled spending time with Lisa Marie two deaths before her death, during and after the 2023 Golden Globes, where Austin Butler won Best Actor for playing the King of Rock and Roll in the biopic Elvis.

"She didn't look well that night, and I was concerned," Priscilla said. "Her heels were high, but she had worn them before, and I thought, 'Is she OK?' She didn't really look that OK; she looked very frail."

After the award show, the mother-daughter duo had drinks at the famed Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood, Calif. and then left separately in their own cars after Lisa Marie told her that her "stomach really hurts."

"I hugged her and she went her way and I went mine," Priscilla said on Piers Morgan Uncensored, "and that hug was the last hug I gave her."

Look back at Lisa Marie's photos with her kids over the years below:

Lisa Marie Presley posed with her daughters—Riley Keough and twins Harper and Finley Lockwood—and son Benjamin Keough in this June 2019 photo. The singer wrote on Instagram, "Mama Lion with cubs."

Lisa Marie was joined by her daughters and mom Priscilla Presley at a handprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on June 21, 2022.

Shortly after celebrating her 53rd birthday in February 2021, the singer posted a family photo with her girls alongside the caption: "Thank you for all of the overwhelming birthday wishes from everyone. Like everyday, I couldn't have made it through without these three by my side."

In 2013, the musician rang in Easter with her kids and mom.

Lisa Marie took Riley and Benjamin to the Hollywood premiere of Lilo and Stitch on June 16, 2002. The trio were accompanied by Lisa Marie's half-brother Navarone Garibaldi, who Priscilla shares with ex Marco Garibaldi.

The To Whom It May Concern artist was fêted by Finley and Harper on her 51st birthday in 2019. "Grateful to be happy, healthy and alive," Lisa Marie captioned a mother-daughter snap from the celebration. "And grateful for all of you."

Lisa Marie was accompanied by her daughters at Elle's 24th annual Women in Hollywood celebration on October 16, 2017.

"Love of my life," Lisa Marie captioned a selfie with Benjamin on Oct. 14, 2015. "One of the contents of my heart."

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Lisa Marie shared that she and her twins were fostering puppies from a local shelter. "Exhausting but so rewarding," she wrote on March 23, 2020. "Be well.

 

While celebrating Benjamin's 21st birthday on Oct. 21, 2013, Lisa Marie snapped this mother-daughter selfie. She tweeted, "love it when were all together."

 

"Incredible night at the Nutcracker ballet w my fave people in the world," Lisa Marie wrote in a December 2018 Instagram post. "Now it feels like Xmas."

Lisa Marie shared a sweet moment with her twins backstage at a tribute concert for Elvis Presley on Aug. 17, 2012. 

Lisa Marie and Riley unveiled a new Presley family exhibit at Graceland in August 2018. The "Lights Out" artist wrote on Instagram at the time, "Hope you all enjoy this little insight to my life."

The singer got matching tattoos with Benjamin as a Mother's Day gift.

In July 2022, two years after her son's death, Lisa Marie explained the meaning behind design. "It's a Celtic eternity knot. Symbolizing that we will be connected eternally," she wrote on Instagram. "We carefully picked it to represent our eternal love and our eternal bond."

 

Lisa Marie and her kids toasted with tea during a 2019 luncheon at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

The family got together for an Easter Sunday celebration in 2015.

Lisa Marie supported Riley's movie The Runaways at a Hollywood premiere party on March 11, 2010.

Lisa Marie and Benjamin enjoyed a night out at the London premiere of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 on November 11, 2010.

In October 2018, Riley snapped a mirror selfie with her family at a backstage green room. Lisa Marie captioned the shot: "glamming it up with my loves for a special event!!!" 

Riley and Lisa Marie walk the red carpet at a launch party for Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone on April 27, 2012 in West Hollywood, Calif.

Lisa Marie was accompanied by her mom and her two oldest kids at a ceremony commemorating what would've been dad Elvis' 75th birthday in 2010.

Lisa Marie and Benjamin were snapped hanging out with DJ Ashba in December 2012, with the matriarch calling it a "fun night."

"Had such a lovely Birthday this evening with my Family [and] Friends!" Lisa Marie tweeted in February 2018. "Thank You everyone for all the LOVE and Birthday wishes!!"

If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.