Lisa Marie Presley performs at the Avalon in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, 2003. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley and a musician and songwriter in her own right, died Thursday in a hospital near her Calabasas, Calif. home, west of Los Angeles.

Presley, 54, apparently died after suffering cardiac arrest earlier in the day, according to a press release issued by her mother, Priscilla Presley. That release didn’t provide more specific insight as to what may have brought on the medical emergency, but in a Tuesday night TV interview from the Golden Globe Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, she seemed unsteady on her feet and grabbed the arm of her friend Jerry Schilling. That night, the Globes’ Best Actor award was won by Austin Butler, who played the title role in the movie “Elvis.”

Though long in the public spotlight as the only child of the King of Rock and Roll – and the onetime wife of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson – Lisa Marie Presley didn’t begin a career as a singer-songwriter until her mid-30s. Between 2003 and 2012 she released three albums that received good critical reviews, if not huge sales numbers. The albums – To Whom it May Concern (certified gold), Now What and Storm and Grace – were interesting combinations of ultra-commercial sound and lyrics personal enough to be convincing as part of a late-night acoustic show in a college coffee house.

Elvis Presley, 33, and his wife Priscilla, 22, leaving Baptist Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, with their baby daughter Lisa Marie. Photo by Keystone/Getty Images.

She wrote more of her own songs as she went along, and they helped give her a patina of credibility that the daughter of an icon has to work extra hard to earn. She also collaborated with several notable musicians, including Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins and Pat Benatar.

Her life had its share of heartbreak, as well – her famous father died in 1977, when Lisa Marie was 9 years old. She was married and divorced four times (her third husband was actor Nicolas Cage) and one of her four children, Benjamin Keough, committed suicide in July 2020 at age 27.

Michael Jackson and his wife Lisa Marie Presley kiss on stage during the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Sept. 8, 1994. AFP via Getty Images.

Lisa Marie was affiliated with a number of nonprofit organizations over time, most notably the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation, formed in 1984 to continue her father’s considerable efforts, worked with Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network and contributed to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans.

However shaky she may have appeared at the end of her life, Lisa Marie Presley ultimately achieved at least a measure of critical respect despite the barriers that come with being the only daughter of a cultural icon known and loved the world over. One piece of evidence – decent covers on her second album of songs by both Don Henley and the Ramones. That’s all right, mama.

For us it’s Austin Butler winning his first ever Golden Globe Award for playing Elvis and then thanking Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley! #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/rmRnvKF3Cg

— PopViewers (@PopViewers) January 11, 2023

Utterly devastated to learn of the hideously premature death of a surprisingly sweet, fierce, generous, talented and painfully vulnerable Lisa Marie Presley.
I will treasure you always in my heart girl. Thank you for your kindness. May you now be granted peace. Sx

— Garbage (@garbage) January 13, 2023

Follow journalist Sam Richards at Twitter.com/samrichardsWC.