Lisa Marie Presley died due to complications of a small bowel obstruction, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office.
The report stated on Thursday that Lisa Marie’s death in January was caused by a “sequelae of a small bowel obstruction.”
The singer and only child of Elvis Presley had suffered cardiac arrest at her home in Calabasas, and died hours later after being hospitalized on January 13. Days before the incident, Lisa Marie attended the Golden Globes alongside her mother, Priscilla, where Austin Butler, who portrayed Elvis in the biopic about the musician, was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” her mother said in a statement, according to The Associated Press. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”
Her father’s legacy was a constant part of her life. Speaking to Rolling Stone in a 2003 interview after the release of her first album, To Whom It May Concern, Lisa Marie remembered how her father would catch her listening to music or singing to herself in front of the mirror. “I’m sure he got a kick out of it. He’d put me up on the coffee table in front of everybody and make me sing,” she said.
In 2018, Lisa Marie sang a reimagined duet with her father on the title track of his posthumous compilation of gospel songs, Where No One Stands Alone. “It was a very powerful and moving experience to sing with my father,” Lisa Marie for the album notes. “The lyrics speak to me and touch my soul. I’m certain that the lyrics spoke to my father in much the same way.”
Weeks after Lisa Marie’s death, a dispute emerged that centered around an amendment in her living trust, which her mother claimed was “invalid.” The document, dated March 11, 2016, reportedly sought to remove Priscilla and former business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees of her daughter’s Promenade Trust and name Keough (Lisa Marie’s daughter) and her now-deceased brother, Benjamin, as co-trustees.
In June, it was reported that Keough would pay her grandmother a lump-sum payment as part of a settlement that would end the battle over Lisa Marie’s estate, with Priscilla remaining as a “special adviser” to the trust as part of the agreement. Keough agreed to pay her Priscilla an undisclosed annual amount for 10 years, or until her death, for her new role, and will serve as sole trustee of her late mother’s trust.
This is a developing story.