Lisa Marie Presley died of complications after weight loss surgery, coroner says

The death on January 12 of the singer, songwriter and heir of Elvis Presley was ruled as being from natural causes due to effects of a small bowel obstruction.

Additional details about what caused the 54-year-old’s death were included in a post-mortem examination report released by the office of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.

The report said the issue was a common complication from bariatric surgery, which is a weight loss procedure. The Mayo Clinic says it is often performed when other weight loss methods have not worked or if a person has a serious medical condition.

Presley died at a Los Angeles hospital where she had been taken by paramedics responding to an emergency call of a woman in cardiac arrest at her home. No indication was made public at the time of what may have caused the medical issue.

The post-mortem report said she had complained of stomach pain earlier in the day.

She was buried on January 22 at Graceland, the home where she lived with her father as a child, which has become a museum, tourist attraction and shrine for Elvis fans.

Presley left behind three daughters: 34-year-old actress Riley Keough and 15-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood. A son, Benjamin Keough, died in 2020.

Immediately after her death, it appeared that a major legal fight would ensue over her estate. Four days after the funeral, her mother Priscilla filed court documents disputing a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie’s living trust which removed Priscilla Presley and a former business manager as trustees and replaced them with her two eldest children.

But Priscilla Presley and Keough – who is now the sole trustee – agreed a settlement in May.

Keough was nominated for her first Emmy on Wednesday, for best actress in a limited series or TV movie for Daisy Jones & The Six.