How Did Lisa Marie Presley Meet Her Ex-Husband Danny Keough?

The following article contains mentions of suicide and substance addiction.

Other than having a foot in the entertainment industry, Lisa Marie Presley's four husbands have little else in common. Two are ultra-famous — one being the King of Pop and the other, Hollywood icon Nicolas Cage. The other two, however, lay claim to Presley's more long-lived unions, which also were the only ones to produce children.

Marrying for the first time in 1988 to actor and musician Danny Keough, per Insider, Presley admitted that their disparate socioeconomic statuses became an issue. Speaking to Marie Claire in 2007, Presley explained, "It is hard for a man to be with a woman who is stronger, wealthier. So in my mind, I'm thinking, 'I know, I'll get with someone more compatible.'" Which explains her next marriage ... to Michael Jackson. Tying the knot with Jackson 20 days after her divorce from Keough was finalized, Presley later said, "Leaving my first marriage, for the person that I left it for — that was probably the biggest mistake of my life."

Marrying Cage for three fleeting months in 2002, Presley wed her fourth and last husband, music producer Michael Lockwood, in 2006. Despite lasting 10 married years and welcoming twin daughters together, Lockwood still wasn't "the one," locked in a nasty custody battle with Presley until her death. Some say you never forget your first — and that was certainly true in the case of Presley's husbands. Forming a tight, lifetime bond, here is how Presley and Keough first met.

Freshly dropped out of high school at age 17, Lisa Marie Presley met her first husband Danny Keough in 1985. Per The U.S. Sun, both Presley and Keough (four years her senior) were reportedly recovering from substance addiction issues at a Church of Scientology rehab center in Los Angeles. Candid about her early experimentation with illicit drugs (which began at age 13), Presley checked herself into the facility at age 17, per the Daily Mail. 

A touring jazz musician when he met Presley, the twosome decided to wed at the same rehab center three years later on October 3, 1988. Holding an intimate ceremony with nine witnesses, via PopCulture.com, Lisa Marie's mom, Priscilla Presley, announced the nuptials. She told People, "I am thrilled for Lisa Marie. Danny is a great guy, and I couldn't be happier for the two of them."

As a married couple, they welcomed daughter Danielle Riley Keough in May 1989 and son Benjamin Storm Keough in 1992, per Insider. Despite divorcing two years after Benjamin's birth, the ex-couple stayed tight as friends. With Danny becoming Lisa Marie's bass player in 2005, the "Lights Out" singer told People at the time that their friendship wasn't "weird at all." She elaborated, "Ultimately this is a good message to send out to people: You don't have to put your crap on your kids even if you are not together. You can still be civilized."

So strong remained Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough's bond that her first husband was by her side 'til the end. Reportedly the one to discover the late singer unresponsive on January 12, 2023, the actor had been cohabitating with Presley at his home at the time, per TMZ. Always maintaining a "brother and sister"-like friendship since their divorce (as Presley told People), the two became even closer after the tragic suicide of their son Benjamin Keough in 2021 at age 27. Although a source told The U.S. Sun their relationship never became romantic again, they got "very close" as they consoled one another in the wake of such a loss. With Presley "racked with grief," she moved from her Calabasas, CA home into Danny's.

In 2006, Presley married music producer Michael Lockwood, a union that produced twin girls Finley and Harper Lockwood in 2008, per Insider. Not only was her first husband Lockwood's best man at the wedding ceremony, Danny also later helped care for the twins, of whom Presley had custody 60% of the time, per ET. After Presley's 2023 death, entertainment lawyer Mitra Ahouraian speculated to the outlet  that since "Danny was in the home with Lisa Marie as a stepfather," he was likely to earn visitation rights for the twins.

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