She doesn't want to be All Shook Up
Lisa Marie Presley doesn't like questions about the King of Rock 'n' Roll or ex-hubby Michael Jackson
Lisa Marie Presley and her band will be touring Western Canada to promote her latest album Now What.

Published: Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Presley agrees to speak to CanWest News Service. But before she gets on the phone, her publicist lays out ground rules:

1. No questions about Elvis.

2. No questions about Michael Jackson.

This makes it, well, sort of tough. Despite having released two pop-rock albums that sold pretty well and received some critical acclaim, the most interesting fact about Lisa Marie is that her dad was the King of Rock 'n' Roll. That and her marriage to Wacko Jacko for 18 months in the mid-'90s.

Lisa Marie Presley photo gallery

Her Canadian tour dates

The 38-year-old singer-songwriter and her band journey to Victoria, Nanaimo and Coquitlam (Friday at the Red Robinson Theatre) for the first time this week as part of a U.S./Canada tour.

Promoting her latest tough-girl rock release, Now What (2005), Presley is playing mostly clubs and casinos -- despite her rightful claim to the most famous name in rock 'n' roll.

Regardless of the don't-mention-Elvis dictum, Los Angeles-based Presley eventually relaxes and talks -- albeit indirectly -- about how being her father's daughter is both boon and liability.

"It's a hard one because you get more doors opened to you -- you can have more opportunities," she says. "But there's a flip side . . . you will be so relentlessly under the microscope, that you're going to be out there like a beacon, to be shot down, you know. More than the average would be.''

Presley, 38, is a late bloomer. A longtime fan of rock music (as a teenager she loved punk and heavy metal), she began performing in public only in 2003, coinciding with the release of her debut disc, To Whom It May Concern. Being a Presley ensured a maelstrom of publicity, including the cover of Rolling Stone and interviews with Diane Sawyer and David Letterman.

"My very first live performance was actually Good Morning America. I had no runway. It was like I dove off the diving board head-first, with no water in the deep end.''

She says she started late because she was too busy raising two children from her first marriage, with musician Danny Keough. (Her daughter, 17-year-old Danielle Riley Keough, is now a fashion model.) Presley says she's a longtime songwriter, but didn't want to release an album if she couldn't follow it up with a tour.

While music created by rock-star children often gets dismissed, Presley's songs have met with some acclaim. For instance, respected Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn praised her "gutsy, blues-edged voice.''

And Victoria-raised record producer David Foster, a longtime friend whom Presley credits with encouraging her to become a musician, is also a fan.

"In my opinion she's really got something to say musically,'' said Foster this week from his Los Angeles studio. "She is who she is. She's dark. Is that my favourite kind of music? No. But she's true to her music.''

Foster also admires Presley for stepping out as a performer in the first place.

"I mean, can you imagine . . . being Elvis Presley's daughter? She just charged right through it; you've got to give her a lot of credit.''
Lisa Marie Presley gets annoyed when reporters bring up certain chapters in her life (hence her publicist's warning). Last month, for instance, she lashed out at a journalist who mentioned her infamous kiss with then-husband Michael Jackson on MTV's 1994 Video Music Awards.

Quizzed on that press conference, Presley says: "I've sort of gone over it and gone over it. At that point I was pretty unapologetically saying, you know, 'Piss off.' I'm done trying to explain myself. I'm sure you've screwed up your life as well, but no one knows about it, unfortunately.''

One can sympathize with this. On the other hand, Presley's life story does have a distinctly tabloid feel. She's Elvis's daughter; she not only married the strangest man in pop, she also tied the knot with actor Nicolas Cage (apparently an Elvis fanatic) for a few weird months in 2002. She's also a Scientologist, the church that counts Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Isaac Hayes as members.

"Everyone's made mistakes and yes, mine were big,'' says Presley, apparently referring to her failed marriages (she's now wedded to guitarist Michael Lockwood).

"At the same time, we all grow up and learn.''

As far as her concerts and recordings go, she says her worst reviews come from those who expect the woman who looks a lot like Elvis to be Elvis.

"They'll critique me for not being him. And that makes me ill . . . Every time I get nailed, it's because something they wanted to see wasn't there.''

Hi Suzana,

I think this was already posted before but, thank you for posting it again!! This was a good interview!!

Hi Miss Heather!
It was????? Dang, sorry, I didn't see it in media but didn't look in fan lounge. Oh well...sh it happens lol

I read it before too, but it's great u are looking out for good stuff, Miss Suzana!

lol thanks phonelines! Not everyone is as forgiving, so it means a lot, I don't always have a chance to go thru all the posts and figure out what's here and what's not.

Thanks

Quite welcome, my pleasure!

thanx suzie Q!
I didn't read that one b4

quote:

Originally posted by Suzana:
Hi Miss Heather!
It was????? Dang, sorry, I didn't see it in media but didn't look in fan lounge. Oh well...sh it happens lol

Suzana,

That's okay!!

Awe Miss Olivia glad it was new to u.

Thank u as always, Miss Heather!