Tragic Details About The Presley Family

The following article includes mentions of addiction and suicide.

From the outside, singer Elvis Presley appeared to be living a true Cinderella story. His meteoric rise from humble Mississippi beginnings to international stardom seemed to happen overnight, and fans loved his image as much as his music. However, in the shadows behind the glitz and glamour of fame lurked something people never knew about Presley: multiple tragedies that deeply shaped his off-stage identity. From childhood losses to struggles with addiction, the man behind the music suffered in often unseen ways. Presley's troubled life culminated in an untimely death, which reverberated around the world. 

However, these calamities weren't something Presley suffered alone — his family's history is full of setbacks and tribulations that would be unbearable for most people to face — so much so that some people have referred to their ongoing plight as "the Presley family curse." As if the loss of Presley himself wasn't monumental enough, misfortune has continued to follow his family long after his death, impacting two more generations of Presleys. Here, we'll break down all the tragic details of what The King of Rock and Roll and his relatives have endured over the years. 

Even from birth, Elvis Presley was beset by tragedy. In a 1978 interview with Good Housekeeping (via Elvis Information Network), his father, Vernon Presley, revealed some surprising news: Elvis was actually a twin. Sadly, his brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was stillborn: "After what seemed to me an eternity, a baby boy was born — dead. I was desolate at the loss of our child." As Vernon also explained, Elvis' birth immediately following this tragedy was unexpected: "But then my father put his hand on my wife's stomach and announced, 'Vernon, there's another baby here?' At the time Elvis was born, medicine hadn't advanced far enough for a doctor to predict twins, so his arrival took us completely by surprise."

Although Elvis never knew his twin, such a profound loss would have undoubtedly had a major impact on his life, and several experts have weighed in on how Elvis would have navigated this tragedy.  For example, psychologist Peter Whitmer said in his book "The Inner Elvis" (via Rock and Roll Garage) that Jesse was "a restless spirit who eventually haunted all of Presley's relationships." Since twins share an unusually close bond, Elvis likely went through life feeling as though a part of himself was missing.

Being drafted into the U.S. Army was undoubtedly stressful for young Elvis Presley, but a situation back home in Memphis made his military experience even more difficult. Just a short time after officially becoming an Army private in early 1957, Elvis was granted emergency leave to be with his mother, Gladys Presley. He arrived home just in time to be with her in her final days and was by her side when she died from cardiac arrest. Gladys was just 46 years old when she died — not much older than Elvis would be when he died two decades later. 

According to The Memphis Press-Scimitar, approximately a thousand people attended Gladys' funeral, and Elvis gave her high praise: "She was the most wonderful mother anyone could ever have. She was always so kind and good." After Gladys' death, Elvis made another simple yet painful comment about his mother, telling Associated Press reporters (via E! News): "It broke my heart. She was always my best girl." These statements suggest that Elvis and Gladys were very close, and we can only imagine how difficult this loss must have been for the young superstar to endure. 

One of the saddest parts of the Elvis Presley story is the role drug use may have played in the decline of his health and overall well-being. His autopsy showed therapeutic levels of multiple prescription drugs in his system, some of which are known to be habit-forming, but whether or not these medications directly contributed to his death is still being debated. However, the King has a documented history of overdosing on drugs, such as when he was hospitalized several years before his death to treat a pethidine addiction. 

Unfortunately, Elvis wasn't the only Presley with a history of addiction: daughter Lisa Marie Presley was never the same after he died, and eventually began using drugs as a teen. As she explained to Rolling Stone in 2003: "I did drugs for four years of my life, from thirteen to seventeen." However, this wasn't Lisa Marie's last struggle with drug use — the singer shared details of her opioid addiction in the foreword for "The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain." Lisa Marie wrote (via People): "It only took a short-term prescription of opioids in the hospital for me to feel the need to keep taking them," referring to a prescription she received while recovering from childbirth in 2008.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Many of the deaths in the Presley family stemmed from health conditions or other natural phenomena, but one of Elvis Presley's grandchildren died from a very unexpected cause. His oldest grandson, Benjamin Keough, was just 27 years old when he died by suicide, shocking his relatives. His grandmother, Priscilla Presley, posted a sorrowful Facebook tribute to Keough, saying: "These are some of the darkest days of my family's life. The shock of losing Ben has been devastating. Trying to put all the pieces together of all the possible whys has penetrated my soul."

Unsurprisingly, Keough's mother, Lisa Marie Presley, took the news the hardest. In a heartbreaking essay (via People), Lisa Marie shared her grief about the loss of her son: "I've had more than anyone's fair share of [grief] in my lifetime and somehow, I've made it this far. But this one, the death of my beautiful, beautiful son? The sweetest and most incredible being that I have ever had the privilege of knowing, who made me feel so honored every single day to be his mother? Who was so much like his grandfather on so many levels that he actually scared me? Which made me worry about him even more than I naturally would have? No. Just no ..."

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

In 2023, Lisa Marie Presley's heartbreaking death began a whole new chapter of misfortune in the Presley family saga. As TMZ reported, her ex-husband, Danny Keough, performed CPR to try to save her life while awaiting paramedics. The singer, who was just 54 at the time, went into full cardiac arrest and was transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment. Sadly, she never recovered from this incident; Priscilla Presley confirmed her daughter's death in a touching statement given to People in January 2023: "It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us. She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known."

Lisa Marie's death was ultimately the result of delayed onset bariatric surgery complications, but also shares some eerie similarities to Elvis Presley's 1977 death. Cardiac arrest was implicated as a factor in both of their deaths, and father and daughter both experienced bowel-related issues shortly before the end of their lives. The connection between their fates adds an even deeper layer of tragedy to Lisa Marie's unexpected passing.