Michael Jackson harbored a deep admiration for Elvis Presley, a sentiment that extended beyond mere fandom. His connection to Presley grew more personal through his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley in 1994. During their time together, Jackson confided in her about his fear of meeting a fate similar to that of her father, Elvis. Lisa Marie later recounted that Jackson seemed almost resigned to this possibility.
Michael Jackson feared he would die in a similar way to Elvis
Jackson’s sudden demise in 2009 due to cardiac arrest from an overdose eerily mirrored the circumstances surrounding Elvis’s death. This tragic event brought back memories for Lisa Marie of a profound conversation during their marriage, where Jackson expressed his apprehension about ending up like Elvis, who also succumbed to cardiac arrest caused by an overdose.
Reflecting on those moments, Lisa Marie shared on MySpace (as noted by Oprah.com) that she and Jackson once delved into a deep discussion about life. She couldn’t remember all the details, but Jackson’s intense gaze and solemn words left a lasting impression. He confessed his worry, saying, “I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did.”
Lisa Marie noted that Jackson appeared unwavering in his belief that this was his destiny.
“I tried to dissuade him from this notion,” she explained, “but he merely shrugged, acknowledging what he believed to be an inevitable truth.” Years later, as she watched the news coverage of Jackson’s passing—scenes reminiscent of Elvis’s own departure—those memories resurfaced powerfully. The sight of the ambulance, the throngs of people at the gates, and the unfolding narrative of his death left her overwhelmed with emotion.
“I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that,” she wrote. “14 years later I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the Cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears.”
Lisa Marie said she wanted to protect him
Lisa Marie said that during their marriage, she wanted to protect Jackson.
“I wanted to ‘save him.’ I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened,” she wrote. “His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn’t know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then. At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself.”
She said that this began to wear on her emotionally and physically.
“I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him,” she wrote. “I was in over my head while trying.”
She said that this led to the end of their marriage.
Priscilla Presley worried about Michael Jackson’s love of Elvis
Jackson’s love of Elvis concerned Lisa Marie’s mother, Priscilla. She believed he was manipulative.
“Lisa had first met him in Las Vegas as a child and reconnected years later,” she wrote in her book Softly, as I Leave You. “He was ten years older than she was, the same age difference there had been between Elvis and me. Michael had started reaching out to her when the child abuse charges went public. I think that’s how he hooked her in the beginning. She felt very sorry for him, and naturally, she believed in his innocence.”
Priscilla said that by the time Lisa Marie decided to end the marriage, she began to think Jackson was with her for her family name.
“Finally, she’d had enough,” Priscilla wrote. “She called me to tell me she wanted a divorce. She had begun to feel like the marriage was a setup. He didn’t want to be with her; he wanted to be with Elvis Presley’s daughter. If he’d wanted to be with her, he wouldn’t have been gone for most of their marriage.”
They divorced in 1996.