Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, has been famous since the day she was born. Lisa Marie was the apple of her father's eye. He showered his young daughter with elaborate gifts. Elvis even named his jet after her.
When Lisa Marie was just 4 years old, her parents went their separate ways. The divorce left Lisa Marie splitting her time with Elvis in Memphis at Graceland and Priscilla in Los Angeles. Then on August 16, 1977, the world heard the heartbreaking news: Elvis Presley was dead. At 9 years old, Lisa Marie's life was changed forever.
She struggled through her teens and admits experimenting with drugs. However, she eventually turned her life around, found love and married musician Danny Keough. They had two children—daughter, Riley, and son, Benjamin. Lisa Marie and Danny later divorced.
For the most part, Lisa Marie was able to avoid the headlines until her high profile and short-lived marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.
Now she's taking an opportunity to step into the spotlight, to define herself and her style, with a new CD titled Now What.
Lisa Marie has tried to maintain a relatively low profile and says that her reputation for being tough is not entirely warranted. "You have to sort of get a protective skin outside, even if it's not real," she says. "I think that was a survival mechanism [for me]."
Lisa Marie says that she is conflicted about having grown up in the public eye. "I'm not someone who desires or wants attention," she says. "I've never been one of those people that run around, you know, walking every red carpet and going to every opening of every envelope, doing Presley perfumes and singing Elvis cover songs. I'm just innately not the type of person that wants attention on me. This has been my biggest battle, and it's why it took me so long to do a record. I had to really find how to be okay with all of that before doing it."
She says this CD provides a chance to define herself to the world. "When I put the record out I realized how much was there prior to me introducing myself and coming out in public and talking. I was like, 'You have no idea who I am.' I'm introducing myself to you for the first time and you have all of these pre-conceived [ideas] of me."
Lisa Marie was married to Michael Jackson for nearly two years, between 1994 and 1996. Some have openly questioned the nature of their relationship.
Oprah: You said you loved him.
Lisa Marie: Yes.
Oprah: Do you think he loved you?
Lisa Marie: It's hard for me to answer that question. I don't know the answer to that, to be honest with you.
Oprah: Do you think that he loved you as much as he could?
Lisa Marie: Yes, as much as he was capable of loving somebody.
Oprah: Do you think he used you?
Lisa Marie: This seat is hot, let me tell you! Do I think he did? All signs point to yes on that. I can't answer for him.
Lisa Marie married for the third time in 2002, to actor Nicolas Cage. Their volatile relationship ended quickly, with Nicolas filing for divorce after just 108 days.
Lisa Marie says although she was upset by the breakup, things are better between them now. "I have to give him credit, you know. That was not a fun time for either of us. He did redeem himself in the end and we did become very good friends after that. We're better like that. And he's happily married and has a baby coming now, which is great."
Lisa Marie says that having children with her first husband, Danny Keough, was one of the best things she has ever done. Lisa Marie and Danny were together for about eight years, and Lisa Marie says she knew at age 19 that Danny was the person she wanted to have children with.
"I've never had that same instinct with a man, you know, knowing that it would be all good, safe," she says. "I knew that no matter what happened we would always be connected, and I don't know how I knew that at such a young age but I instinctively knew that and had those children with him and we are like best friends; brother and sister."
Lisa Marie says she and Danny raise their two children together, and that he even lives on her property.
"We have like a compound so he has his house and we spend holidays together," she says. "It's hard to have that kind of relationship with your ex...but I think it's very important if you have children with somebody to keep your responsibility. You don't need to put what you guys went through or what you had with each other on the children."
Oprah: Are you proud of your mothering skills? When you look at yourself as a mother, where would you rate yourself? Scale 1 to 10.
Lisa Marie: An 8.
Oprah: I think 8 is about as good as you can do! What do you think you're best at as a mother?
Lisa Marie: Just overwhelming them with affection and love. They need to push me off of them constantly...I'm crazy about them and they know it. And then having that, versus being their friend—trying really hard to be their friend as well as be a mother. That's the fence you walk, which is important because you can't go too much on one side or the other.
Oprah: How do you instill in them what's important as a human being? As a citizen of the world, your community, when you've got everything?
Lisa Marie: You have to be an example. I'm not somebody who sits around. I'm not happy unless I'm helping other people. And they watch me and they see that. You have to just be a good example.
The public rarely heard from Lisa Marie until she found her own voice and shared it with the world. Lisa Marie's sound and look reveal a haunting resemblance to her legendary dad! In the songs featured on her new CD, Now What, Lisa Marie says she bares her soul.
Oprah: Do you always feel like you're being compared to your father or have you reached a place where you're comfortable; you can embrace it; you can use it to infuse your own life and not reject it, or not feel like, "Oh, people are always thinking about him when they're thinking about me?"
Lisa Marie: I think that that was a huge mountain to climb and ultimately, you know, there is going be some of that there, and I do embrace it. I understand that part of it.
Oprah: Are you still trying to say, "No, I have my own life. I have my own identity."
Lisa Marie: No, I'm trying to find a good balance between the two. It's not that I want to push that away. You can't do that.
Oprah: That is very smart on your part. The fact, first of all, you look like him! And that's a good thing. And that is a part of who you are.
