The Complete Timeline Of Lisa Marie Presley And Michael Jackson's Relationship
Fans were stunned by Lisa Marie Presley's death on January 12, 2023. In the following hours and days, there was renewed interest in Presley's life, including in the relationships she had with her family members and the four men she married.
Presley's second marriage was to the singer Michael Jackson. The two first met in 1970 when Presley was still a child, but reconnected in 1992 while she was married to her first husband, Danny Keough. By 1993, she and Jackson were married, but their relationship was short-lived. Only two years later, Presley announced her intention to divorce Jackson in December 1995 (via the Daily Mail).
Despite their short marriage, Presley and Jackson continued to speak to one another over the years, having their final conversation in 2005 — four years before Michael Jackson died in June 2009. The two faced a lot of scrutiny while married, something Presley later admitted made her want to take care of Jackson if possible, per Oprah.com. Despite things not working out between them, they clearly remained fond of one another. Here's a look at the relationship between Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson.
Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson met as children
The relationship between Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson dates back decades, all the way to 1970, when the two crossed paths at a Jackson Five concert. As noted by the Daily Mail, Lisa Marie was a huge fan of the group, and her father brought her backstage to meet the band. However, she and Jackson weren't reintroduced to one another until the 1990s.
The outlet also reported that Presley and Jackson stayed in touch in the years that transpired between their first and second meetings, and they connected as adults in 1992 when Lisa Marie was married to her first husband, Danny Keough. They hit it off as friends, enjoying phone calls in the months that followed, and Lisa Marie soon became a rock for Jackson as he weathered a lawsuit from the Chandler family, who accused the singer of molesting their then 13-year-old son Jordan (via Yahoo!).
One thing led to another, and soon Lisa Marie and Jackson's relationship crossed the line from friends to something else.
Lisa Marie Presley stood by Michael Jackson during his lawsuit with the Chandler family
By all accounts, Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson grew closer after Jackson was accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. Jackson's accuser was Jordan's father, Evan Chandler. As explained by The Daily Beast, Jackson met the Chandler family in May 1992 after his car broke down, and Jackson hired Jordan's stepfather to repair it. Jordan was a big fan of the singer, and he and his mom came to the shop to meet him in person.
The 1993 lawsuit alleges that the pair began speaking on the phone for long periods, which progressed to in-person hangouts, and Jordan told authorities that the friendship turned into sexual assault. Jackson denied the charges but ultimately paid the boy and his family a $20 million settlement.
Presley and Jackson spent a lot of time on the phone during the lawsuit, and the Irish Mirror describes Presley as Jackson's support system. The Daily Beast adds that Jackson had proposed to Presley over the phone sometime in 1993, even though she was still married to Danny Keough.
Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson got married 20 days after her divorce
Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson shocked everyone when they got married 20 days after Presley's divorce from Danny Keough was finalized. The pair traveled to the Dominican Republic for the ceremony, where they wore all black and Jackson wore a cowboy hat. The pair were accused of getting married quickly to distract from Jackson's lawsuit, though Presley issued a statement affirming her love for her new husband.
As reported by The Sun, Presley explained, "I am very much in love with Michael, I dedicate my life to being his wife. I understand and support him. We both look forward to raising a family." Presley also stated that she had changed her last name to Presley-Jackson and hoped to save her husband during his legal fight.
Presley later revealed that Jackson wanted to have children, but something inside her kept making her pause. As she put it, she wanted children with Jackson but didn't want ever to have to fight for custody of those children with him. As she put it, "I don't want to go head to head with him so I need to make sure that everything around is good. I had children and I knew bringing children into certain circumstances you have to make sure that everything is safe and secure and ok" (via the Daily Express).
Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson tried to prove their love in 1994
Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson's marriage was under a lot of scrutiny, and it seems that eventually, the pair tried to do something about the attention that was on them. In an attempt to sway the tide, Jackson and Presley staged a moment at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards that many have described as unforgettable, though perhaps not for the most positive reasons.
As shared by the Daily Mail, the two opened up the awards that year, with Jackson taking the lead. He introduced him and Presley and told the audience, "I'm very happy to be here. Just think, nobody thought this would last." After that, the two shared a kiss meant to translate as passionate, though some didn't buy it.
Despite the awkward kiss, they continued to show up at events the rest of the year before sitting down with an interview with Diane Sawyer in 1995. After Sawyer asked if they had sex, both replied, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" before explaining that they hoped to have children.
Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce in December 1995
Whispers of problems between Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson grew stronger throughout 1995, and Presley ultimately confirmed those rumors by filing for divorce in December of that year. The marriage ultimately lasted a little over 20 months, with Presley citing irreconcilable differences in her Los Angeles filing. As CNN reported at the time, Presley's publicist declined an initial comment, and Jackson's publicist stated he didn't know anything about the pair divorcing.
Presley also requested to change her last name to the one she was born with, completely dropping Jackson from her name. Presley's lawyer John Coale explained to The Chicago Tribune that the divorce would be fairly easy; as he put it, "There are no disputes as to property or anything else. It's going to be a very simple and clean divorce, and they're going to remain friends."
Despite Presley and Jackson's many proclamations to the opposite, there were some who were not surprised by the divorce at all. Writer Mitchell Fink, who wrote a column called Insider for People at the time, explained to The Chicago Tribune that he believed they both had ulterior motives for the marriage in the first place. He said, "It was a desperate attempt on his part at the time to establish himself in the eyes of the world as a normal person, not a weirdo. I think she did it because she thought it would help her professionally."
Michael Jackson married and divorced Debbie Rowe
Michael Jackson moved on quickly after his divorce from Lisa Marie Presley was finalized, and he moved on with someone that Presley had already been introduced to, Debbie Rowe. As The Sun has shared, Presley didn't perceive Rowe as a threat to her marriage when they met, but Rowe was on hand to help Jackson feel better following the split.
As Rowe later explained to ABC News, one thing led to another fairly quickly with the couple. She said, "I was trying to console him, because he was really upset. He was upset because he really wanted to be a dad. I said, 'So be a dad.' He looked at me puzzled." From there, Rowe offered to have children with Jackson, and the two got married in Sydney, Australia, only weeks after his divorce from Presley was finalized.
In fact, Rowe was already pregnant with the pair's first child together at their wedding. Their oldest son, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (who is also known as Prince Michael), was born on February 13, 1997. They welcomed their second child, daughter Paris Jackson, the following year. The two divorced in 1999, and Rowe relinquished all parental and custodial rights to Jackson during their divorce.
Lisa Marie Presley spoke about her attraction to Michael Jackson in 2003
In 2003 Lisa Marie Presley sat down for an interview with Rolling Stone magazine and spoke in part about her marriage to Michael Jackson and what drew her to the singer to begin with. After admitting that Jackson attempted to contact her when she was still a teenager, sending a message through her lawyer that he thought she was "pretty" but that she was completely uninterested in anything Jackson had to say at the time.
The pair reconnected a few years later, and this time around, Presley said she was open to getting to know him. After admitting that she was a "sucker" for someone who felt like everyone didn't understand them, Presley added that she felt like she could do something for Jackson. She said, "I got into this whole 'I'm going to save you' thing,' she says. 'I thought all that stuff he was doing — philanthropy and the children thing and all this stuff — was awesome, and maybe we could save the world together" (via Elvis.com.au).
Presley also admitted to the magazine that she didn't think at the time that Jackson would have married her for any other reason other than love. Presley later told Marie Claire that the marriage was "the biggest mistake" she had ever made and explained, "Leaving my first marriage, for the person that I left it for — that was probably the biggest mistake of my life."
Lisa Marie Presley married 2 more times
Lisa Marie Presley also moved on following her split from Michael Jackson. She was engaged to John Oszajca in 1999 when she met actor Nicolas Cage at a party, and by 2002 the two were planning their own wedding. As noted by the New York Post, Cage later admitted to Barbara Walters that he was head over heels for Presley, telling the veteran news anchor, "I walk into a party not knowing who I'm going to meet and there's this beautiful girl standing in the middle of the living room wearing this short leather skirt and this fluffy jacket, and she looks up at me with these big, beautiful, soulful eyes, eyes that look like they have a sad story to tell, and I just went 'Oh.'"
Things between Presley and Cage ended quickly, and they announced their intention to divorce only four months after their wedding. The divorce was finalized by 2004, and Presley later admitted that while it was fun, getting married to Cage wasn't the best move she could have made.
Lisa Marie Presley was devastated by Michael Jackson's death
Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, after experiencing cardiac arrest at his home. As reported by TMZ at the time, Jackson did not have a pulse when paramedics showed up at his home, and they could not revive him despite their best efforts. Jackson was then transported to a hospital, where staff could not bring him back to life.
Lisa Marie Presley took to her now-defunct blog on MySpace to write a post about her ex-husband and his passing. As shared by Oprah.com, Presley shared that Jackson once told her that he was worried he would die like her father did, and despite her best efforts to convince him otherwise, Presley was unable to shake the belief from her ex-husband.
Presley also shared that Jackson's death had wrecked her. As she put it, "The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the L.A. County Coroners office for his Autopsy. All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted."
Lisa Marie Presley shared her final conversation with Michael Jackson
In 2010 Lisa Marie Presley sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The conversation inevitably turned to her ex-husband Michael Jackson, and Presley opened up about her last conversation with the singer before his death in 2009. As she shared with Winfrey, the last time the two spoke before Jackson's death was in 2005. Presley admitted that she had to separate herself from Jackson regarding her emotions, and she felt he checked in on her to see if she would respond. As she put it, "He was trying to throw a line out to see if I would bite emotionally, and I wouldn't."
Presley added that Jackson asked her if she still loved him, and when she replied that she was "indifferent," he was upset and that "He didn't like that word. He cried." Additionally, Jackson told her the names of people that he felt were potentially trying to have him killed, though Presley declined to share those names.