Why Lisa Marie Presley Never Had Any Kids With Michael Jackson

From failed marriages to whirlwind romances — Lisa Marie Presley's journey to love was anything but a fairy tale.

In 1988, the singer and daughter of rock 'n roll icon Elvis Presley married musician Danny Keough, whom she met as a teenager during a stint in rehabilitation, according to The U.S. Sun. Their marriage lasted six years and resulted in two children — Riley and Benjamin Keough, with the latter tragically dying of suicide at the age of 27. Then, in 1994, Lisa Marie married pop superstar Michael Jackson. The two never started a family of their own and eventually split after two years of marriage. However, Lisa Marie's shortest marriage came in 2002, when she wed actor Nicolas Cage. The two were married for less than four months before calling it quits. Per People, she later married music producer Michael Lockwood in 2006, and together they welcomed twins Harper and Finley. Her fourth time down the aisle wasn't the happily ever after Presley had hoped for, and the two divorced in 2021 after a 10-year marriage and brutal custody battle over their twin daughters.

Of all her high-profile marriages, Lisa Marie's short-lived union with the so-called "King of Pop" garnered the most attention for obvious reasons. Rumors and controversies hounded the pair's marriage, and there were lots of speculation as to why Lisa Marie and Michael never had any kids together. Speaking to Oprah Winfrey in 2010, the "Don't Cry Daddy" singer explained her reluctance to start a family with Michael despite it being the "Thriller" star's ardent wish. 

Lisa Marie Presley said Michael Jackson had hoped for her to get pregnant as soon as they exchanged vows in 1994. Although she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea, Presley admitted to Oprah Winfrey that she had reservations about starting a family with the pop superstar. "I was looking into the future and was thinking, 'I never want to get into a custody battle with him.' ... So I needed to make sure everything all around was good," she told Oprah. "I had children and I knew bringing in children into certain circumstances, you have to make sure everything was safe and secure and OK." At the time, Presley was already a mother to kids Riley and Benjamin with her first husband, Danny Keough. "I wanted to make sure he and I were really, really united," she said of Jackson. "Because we were going to be up against so much."

Instead, she and Jackson separated in 1996 due to "irreconcilable differences," per EW, and Jackson would go on to re-marry and have children with Debbie Rowe. Chatting with Winfrey, Presley described this as a "retaliatory" act against her for not caving into Jackson's wish. "[Debbie] was there the whole time telling him that she would [have his child]. He would tell me, 'Debbie said she'll do it,'" Presley said. "That's how he knew to handle it, 'If you're not going to do it, this person will.'"

Perhaps Lisa Marie Presley had always known that her marriage to Michael Jackson would end in divorce. In an interview with Playboy in the years after their separation, the "Lights Out" singer expounded on her marriage to the "King of Pop" and why she was hesitant about starting a family with him. "It's funny. When I imagined having a child with him, all I could ever see was a custody battle nightmare," she said (via Elvis Australia). That's not to say that she didn't love Jackson, however; in her chat with Oprah Winfrey, Presley looked back on her marriage to the pop superstar with much fondness, saying she loved taking care and being there for her husband. "It was one of the highest points in my life when things were going really well, and he and I were united," she said. "It was a very profound time of my life."

Presley admitted to having her own regrets in her marriage with Jackson, especially when the "Billie Jean" hitmaker tragically passed way at age 50 in 2009. During her appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," she reflected on her relationship with the pop star, saying, "He honestly tried so hard and went through so much with me. He's never done that with any other female. I didn't appreciate it then, and I wish I did." Presley herself would later meet her tragic end on January 12, 2023, after suffering a cardiac arrest, per People. She was 54.