Music

Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s only Child Dead at 54

Published

1 year ago

2023-01-13

Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s only child and a singer-songwriter dedicated to her father’s legacy, died Thursday after being admitted to the hospital for a medical emergency. She was 54 years old.

Her mother, Priscilla, confirmed her death in a Los Angeles hospital a few hours after her daughter was rushed there following a medical emergency at home.

“I must share the heartbreaking news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, powerful, and loving woman I’d ever met.”

Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, inherited her father’s brooding charisma — the hooded eyes, the arrogant smile, the low, sultry voice — and professionally followed him, releasing her own rock albums in the 2000s and sharing the stage with Pat Benatar and Richard Hawley, among others.

She even formed direct musical ties with her father, lending her voice to Elvis recordings such as “In the Ghetto” and “Don’t Cry Daddy,” a mournful ballad that reminded him of his mother (and Lisa Marie’s grandmother), Gladys Presley’s early death.

“It’s been all my life,” she said of her father’s influence to The Associated Press in 2012. “I’m not listening to it anymore, and it’s different. I might pay more attention. I’ve always been an admirer, and I intend to remain so. He’s always had an impact on me.”

Lisa Marie Presley Attended Golden Globes

Her birth, nine months after her parents’ wedding, made international headlines, and her family history was never far from her mind. With the release of Baz Luhrmann’s major musical feature “Elvis” last year, Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley began attending red carpets and award shows alongside film stars.

She was in attendance at the Golden Globes on Tuesday to celebrate Austin Butler’s award for playing her father. On Jan. 8, she was in Memphis at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived and died — to celebrate her father’s birthday.

After her parents divorced in 1973, Presley moved to California to live with her mother, an actress known for “Dallas” and the “Naked Gun” films. During her visits to Graceland, she recalled riding golf carts through the neighborhood and seeing her father’s daily entrances down the stairs.

“He was always completely prepared. “You’d never see him coming down the stairs in his PJs,” she told The Associated Press in 2012. “You’d never see him dressed anything other than’ready to be seen.'”

Elvis Presley died in August 1977, when he was 42 years old and she was nine years old. Lisa Marie was staying at Graceland at the time, and she remembered him kissing her goodnight hours before he collapsed and died. The next time she saw him, he was lying face down in the bathroom.

“I just had a gut feeling,” she explained to Rolling Stone in 2003. “He wasn’t doing so hot. All I know is that I had it (the feeling), and it occurred. I was obsessed with death from a young age.”

She would later make her own headlines. Drug problems and some very public marriages. Among her four husbands were Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.

Married Micheal Jackson

Jackson and Presley married in the Dominican Republic in 1994, but the marriage ended two years later due to a series of awkward public appearances, including an unexpected kiss from Jackson at the MTV Video Music Awards and a joint interview with Diane Sawyer in which she defended her husband against allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.

Cage’s other celebrity marriage lasted only four months before she filed for divorce in 2002.

“I had to sort of run into a lot of walls and trees,” she told the Associated Press in 2012. “But now I can also look back at it and tell you all the stuff that was going on around me and all the different people around me and all the awww — and it was not a good situation anyway. That wasn’t helping matters. In any case, it was a learning experience. It was just done differently. It was always right in front of everyone. Because, of course, everything is documented.”

Lisa Marie became involved in a variety of humanitarian causes, ranging from anti-poverty programs run by the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation to relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina. For her efforts, she received formal citations from New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee.

With her former husband Danny Keough, Presley had two children: actor Riley Keough, born in 1989, and Benjamin Keough, born in 1992. In 2008, she and ex-husband Michael Lockwood had twin daughters, Harper and Finley Lockwood.

Presley and Lockwood

Her marriage to Lockwood would end in a contentious and protracted divorce that began in 2016 and was still unresolved when she died, despite the fact that they were declared divorced in 2021. The girls, now 15, were placed in protective custody following the fight in 2017. Presley and Lockwood eventually shared custody, but they remained at odds over the issue, with Lockwood demanding more child support from Presley.

Benjamin Keough, 27, committed suicide in 2020. Presley was open about her grief, writing last August in an essay that she had “been living in the horrific reality of its unrelenting grips since my son’s death two years ago.”

“I’ve been dealing with death, grief, and loss since I was nine years old. “I’ve had more than anyone’s fair share of it in my lifetime, and I’ve made it this far,” she wrote in an essay published by People magazine.

“But this one, the death of my lovely, lovely son? The sweetest and most incredible being I’ve ever had the honor of knowing, who made me feel so honored to be his mother every single day? Who was so similar to his grandfather on so many levels that he scared me? Which made me worry about him even more than I would have otherwise,” the essay continued. “No. Just no… no, no, no…”

After her father died, Lisa Marie became the sole heir to the Elvis Presley Trust. The trust managed Graceland and other assets alongside Elvis Presley Enterprises until she sold her majority stake in 2005. She retained ownership of the Graceland Mansion, as well as the 13 acres surrounding it and the contents of the home. Her son, as well as her father and other Presley family members, are buried there.

Lisa Marie Presley is a former Scientologist — her son was born in 1992 under Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s guidelines, according to an AP story at the time — but she later left Scientology.

Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley would visit Graceland on numerous occasions, including the anniversaries of Elvis’ death and birthday. The Lisa Marie is the name of one of Graceland’s two planes.

Following the release of her first album, “To Whom It May Concern,” in 2003, some fans came out to see her perform simply out of curiosity, she told the Associated Press in 2005.

“First, I had to overcome a preconceived notion of myself,” she said of the obstacles to becoming a singer-songwriter.

“I had to sort of burst through that and introduce myself, and that was the first hurdle, and then now sing in front of everybody, and that was the second hurdle,” she continued. “However, the scales never tipped too far in the other direction.”

Source: The Associated Press

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Music

Police Say There Was No Foul Play in Mandisa’s Death

Published

43 mins ago

2024-04-26

Geoff Thomas

The Franklin police department in Tennessee has provided an update on the death of Christian singer and former “American Idol” contestant Mandisa, who died last week.

Mandisa, whose full name is Mandisa Hundley, was discovered dead in her Nashville home on April 18, according to a statement on the artist’s official Facebook page. She was 47.

According to a post on X, the program formerly known as Twitter, the Franklin police department stated that there is currently no evidence that Mandisa’s death was the result of suspicious or criminal conduct.

“The Franklin Police Department sends its condolences to Hundley’s family, friends, and fans,” the department said on X.

Mandisa rose to notoriety

K-Love, a Christian music station, was the first to announce the artist’s death. Mandisa rose to notoriety after standing firm in the face of criticism from “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell during season five, according to K-Love.

After finishing in the Top 10 on “American Idol,” she released her debut album, “True Beauty,” in 2007.

She began her singing career with the Fisk Jubilee Singers, an African American vocal group, while attending Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, according to K-Love. After her stint on “American Idol,” she collaborated with various musicians, including TobyMac, Matthew West, Michael W. Smith, and Kirk Franklin.

According to her website, She had published five full-length albums throughout the course of her two-decade career, including one Christmas album. Her hit album “Overcomer” won her a Grammy in 2014 for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.

K-Love said that she has great relationships with her fellow singers, including TobyMac.

“Since the first day I met Mandisa, she has been nothing but original and courageous,” Toby told K-Love in a statement. “My touring family benefits from her presence. She sincerely encourages each performer on stage and every crew member behind the scenes. In a single word, I would describe her as one of the most authentic persons I have ever met. Her passion desires to help others.”

Celebrity

Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Published

1 day ago

2024-04-24

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

Los Angeles – In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, a photographer who Megan Thee Stallion employed alleges that he was compelled to witness her engaging in sexual activity, was unjustly terminated shortly after that, and experienced mistreatment as her employee.

People – VOR News Image

Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Emilio Garcia, in his lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that on a night out in 2022 in Ibiza, Spain, he was present in an SUV with the hip-hop singer when she engaged in sexual activity with another lady near him. He was incapacitated from exiting the moving vehicle, and even if he could do so, he would have found himself stranded in an unfamiliar land. According to the lawsuit, Garcia experienced feelings of embarrassment, mortification, and offense during the entire incident.

Alex Spiro, Megan’s attorney, stated that she intends to contest the complaint through legal proceedings.

“This is a monetary employment claim, without any filed allegations of sexual harassment, but with scandalous accusations aimed at embarrassing her,” Spiro stated.

According to the lawsuit, Megan admonished Garcia the following day, instructing him not to disclose what he witnessed while also criticizing and body-shaming him. The complaint alleges that Garcia, who was experiencing excessive workload, low pay, and a hostile work environment due to Megan’s possessive and abusive behavior, was wrongly categorized as an independent contractor while being treated as an exclusive employee.

According to the lawsuit, Garcia discussed those concerns with Megan during their conversation and was terminated the next day after working for her for four years. Subsequently, he lodged a job discrimination lawsuit with the California Civil Rights Department.

Rolling Stone – VOR News Image

Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

The lawsuit, initially disclosed by NBC News, names Megan, legally known as Megan Pete, her enterprises Megan Thee Stallion Entertainment and Hot Girl Touring and her record label, Roc Nation, as the defendants. No defense answer has been submitted yet. A representative of Roc Nation should have responded more promptly to an email requesting comment.

Garcia is pursuing monetary compensation, which will be assessed during the trial. He claims to have had significant emotional and bodily harm as a result of his treatment at work, his termination, and seeing the incident in the SUV.

Megan, a 29-year-old woman, was previously embroiled in a significant legal controversy. She endured a deluge of online harassment after being shot by rapper Tory Lanez. A jury determined that Lanez had fired at her feet while they were on a street in the Hollywood Hills in 2020. She provided testimony throughout the trial, which led to the conviction of Lanez on three felony charges. Subsequently, a court imposed a 10-year prison sentence on him.

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Photographer Alleges He Was Forced To Watch Megan Thee Stallion Have Sex And Was Unfairly Fired

Megan was already a prominent emerging artist at the time of the shooting and has achieved immense success as one of the most prominent figures in hip-hop. In 2021, she won a Grammy for the best new artist category. Additionally, she attained the top position on the music charts with her tracks “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a featured artist on Cardi B’s “WAP.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Recently Arrested Morgan Wallen Says He’s “Not Proud” Of Behavior

Published

5 days ago

2024-04-21

Kiara Grace

rolling stone - VOR News Image

Nashville, Tennessee – Morgan Wallen, a country music singer facing charges coming in part from allegations that he tossed a chair off the rooftop of a six-story club, says he is “not proud” of his actions and accepts responsibility.

The “One Thing at a Time” singer took to social media Friday night to comment to his arrest in Nashville two weeks earlier. According to court documents, he was charged with three felony charges of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. He is scheduled to appear in court on May 3.

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Recently Arrested Morgan Wallen Says He’s “Not Proud” Of Behavior

According to an arrest document, the chair at Chief’s pub landed about 3 feet (1 meter) from officers, who spoke with witnesses and checked CCTV footage. Witnesses informed police that they saw Wallen take up a chair, throw it over the roof, and laugh about it. Wallen was arrested early on April 8 and later freed.

“I didn’t feel comfortable checking in publicly until I had made apologies with some people. I’ve contacted Nashville police enforcement, my family, and the friendly staff at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my actions, and I accept responsibility,” Wallen stated on X (previously Twitter).

AP – VOR News image

Recently Arrested Morgan Wallen Says He’s “Not Proud” Of Behavior

Wallen, one of the most well-known artists in contemporary country music, is now on a stadium tour that includes a concert on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.

“I have the greatest regard for the cops who labor every day to keep us all safe. “There will be no changes to my tour,” his reply read, signed “-MW.”

The “One Thing at a Time” album topped the Billboard 200 for 16 weeks in 2023 and was the best-selling album in the United States last year. The top ten successes from the album included “Last Night,” “You Proof,” and “Thinkin’ Bout Me.”

News week _ VOR News Image

Recently Arrested Morgan Wallen Says He’s “Not Proud” Of Behavior

In 2021, the country artist was suspended indefinitely by his label when a video surfaced showing him uttering a racial slur. He was arrested in 2020 for public intoxication and disorderly conduct after being booted out of Kid Rock’s downtown Nashville bar.

SOURCE – (AP)