Driven: Lisa Marie Presley is the story of a little girl who was famous before she was born and spent the next 35 years finding her way to music on her own terms. Born to the King of Rock ‘n Roll, Lisa’s musical legacy is stronger than any single singer alive today. She didn’t have the luxury of a normal childhood much less a musical career. This episode will tell of her search to find her own voice and tell her own story through her recently released debut album, To Whom It May Concern.
Driven: Lisa Marie Presley highlights include:
Elvis showers his daughter with gifts and serenades her at concerts.
Lisa starts writing at a young age, leaving notes for her family and expressing her earliest dreams.
Lisa is at Graceland the day that Elvis dies, and watches his body leave Graceland in an ambulance.
Suddenly inundated by press and paparazzi after Elvis’s death, Lisa struggles to have a normal life despite the invasive photographers and prying eyes.
Searching for her own identity, Lisa rebels and starts experimenting with drugs.
Wary of Elvis’s own history of drug abuse, Priscilla eventually finds a safe haven for Lisa at the Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles.
Lisa meets Danny Keough, a musician who will marry her and father her two children.
Lisa begins writing songs with Danny and decides to pursue a music career.
Sony begins to negotiate a deal with the King’s daughter, but when Lisa becomes pregnant with her second child, she backs away from music.
When Lisa turns 25 and begins to come into some of her inheritance, the resulting public interest puts pressure on her marriage.
Following her divorce, Lisa is pursued by Michael Jackson who initially seems interested in her music but then starts a romance with her and they marry.
During the 20 months she is married to Jackson, Lisa’s musical dreams fall to the wayside as she is consumed by Jackson’s world.
After a devastating divorce with Jackson, Lisa begins writing again in earnest.
Lisa has a “coming out” at the tribute concert on the 20th anniversary of Elvis’s death, singing a virtual video duet with her dad to an awestruck crowd.
Lisa signs a record deal with Java Records and begins recording an album.
Over the next three years, Lisa works with a number of producers, putting together an album’s worth of songs, but remains dissatisfied with the work as a whole.
When Andy Slater becomes head of Capitol Records, Java’s parent, he sends Lisa back into the studio to rework her album with Eric Rosse.
To Whom It May Concern debuts at #5 on Billboard and Lisa is heralded as a singer-songwriter in her own right.
Some of the interview highlights include:- Joe Esposito, Elvis’s friend: “Elvis would sing songs to Lisa Marie. She was just thrilled to death. She loved seeing her dad on stage.”
- Myrna Smith, Elvis’s back-up singer: “She rode around Graceland in a golf cart. Like a bat out of hell!”
- Michelle Hovey, Lisa’s aunt: “During the times that Lisa would go visit Elvis, it was a whole other world. And then, she would come back to Los Angeles, and it would be like a punishment.“
- Priscilla Presley: “I would find writings in her room. She really created a world for herself away from everybody else.”
- Gary Hovey: “She would write pretty deep stuff sometimes. What she wanted which was that her parents would always be there.”
- Joe Esposito, Elvis’s friend: “I knew as soon as I touched him that he was dead. I looked over and Lisa Marie was standing by the door. Lisa watched us take him down the steps and put him in the ambulance.”
- Michelle Hovey, Lisa’s aunt: “The press is coming in, and just showing up, you know, in your trash cans, and they’re showing up in the backyard, and they’re climbing over the fences.”
- Gary Hovey, Lisa’s uncle: “The whole scenario was just uncharted ground at the time. You know how do you keep a child normal? That can’t even you know barely walk down the street.”
- Priscilla Presley: “I swear to God, the day she was thirteen years old, that was it, she was not my daughter. She was another person. It was almost like she woke up and decided to be like somebody else.”
- Myrna Smith, Elvis’s back up singer: “She was trying to find out who she is, she knows she’s Elvis’s daughter, but ‘Who am I? I’ve got to have my own identity…’”
Some of the footage highlights include:
- Home videos of Lisa at Graceland.
- Lisa’s first live performances.
Growing up as the daughter of the biggest icon in music history is not easy. Lisa Marie Presley has spent her entire life as part of musical royalty, but has struggled to establish her own musical presence under the weight of her father’s legacy. Until now. Lisa’s debut album, To Whom It May Concern, entered the Billboard charts at #5 and secured her a place as a singer-songwriter in her own right.
But the journey to her own musical career was long. A happy child, Lisa adored her father, who treated his daughter like a princess. When her father died, Lisa was hounded by the press and by “friends” who wanted to capitalize on her status and name. Her mother, Priscilla Presley, attempted to keep her daughter’s life as “normal” as possible. Lisa, however, can’t help but notice that she is special and that people and even friends treat her differently because of her last name. As a teenager, Lisa itches to find her own identity distinct from being Elvis’s daughter.
After a tumultuous three-year period in which Lisa experiments with drugs and shuffles through schools, Lisa ends up a high-school drop-out. Priscilla puts her into the Celebrity Centre, a Scientology center and hotel in Los Angeles. Lisa straightens herself out and surrounded by a newfound set of friends who are artists and musicians, begins exploring her own musical interests. Lisa soon begins dating Danny Keough, a member of this group of friends and a serious musician in his own right, and a whole new world is opened up to her.
After Lisa and Danny get married and have a daughter, Lisa decides to pursue a career in music. She is terrified to perform in front of others, so she and Danny work together in a studio they’ve built in their home. Finally Lisa is ready to make a professional demo. With the help of Jerry Schilling, a long-time friend of her father’s, Lisa starts shopping her demo looking for a record deal. Sony starts negotiating a contract, but just before the deal is closed, Lisa discovers she’s pregnant with her second child. A devoted mother, she backs away from a musical career to have her son.
At 25, Lisa begins to come into her inheritance and as the public’s interest in her grows, her marriage begins to suffer from the pressures of the press and the new responsibilities.
Eventually, Lisa and Danny divorce, and she very quickly begins dating Michael Jackson. Lisa and Jackson elope, and although Jackson had initially shown interest in Lisa’s musical dreams, her music is put to the side as she is consumed by Jackson’s world and personality.
It is only after a painful divorce from Jackson that Lisa again turns to songwriting and music. She performs a virtual video duet with her father at the 20th anniversary tribute concert of Elvis’s death – and receives resounding applause and acceptance from the awestruck audience. Encouraged, Lisa begins looking for a record deal again. She signs with Java Records and works with Glenn Ballard and number of producers over the next three years. She now has an album of songs that aren’t quite what she’s looking for – and she is unsure where her career is going. But when Andy Slater becomes head of Capitol Records, Java’s parent, Lisa finds a new mentor and champion. Slater sends Lisa back into the studio to rework much of the album with music producer Eric Rosse. After a final year of work, Lisa finally releases To Whom It May Concern.
Driven traces an artist’s journey from the earliest glimmer of stardom to the first blush of full-blown success. It examines the blueprint for their accomplishments and that ineffable something that drove them forward despite obstacles and setbacks, all told by the people who knew them best. In Driven: Lisa Marie Presley you’ll hear the candid personal thoughts of those who played pivotal roles in her early life and in the development of her career. You’ll also see some of the most extraordinary and rare footage of Lisa in existence, including video footage and photos that have never been shown on television. The result is a vivid and complex portrait of a one of pop’s most vibrant stars.
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