Few musicians have had the cultural impact Elvis Presley did. Since releasing his first album in 1956, Rock N Roll, and appearing in the film Love Me Tender that same year, he went on to achieve meteoric success, selling more than 146 million albums worldwide. His legacy lives on through generations of artists who have been inspired by his work and an unlikely actor is one of them – Cage. The Academy Award-winner is best known for his films Face/Off, Leaving Las Vegas and The Rock, the star recently achieved critical success with the release of Michael Sarnoski’s Pig. Through it all, he has kept his love of The King close. He even married his daughter Lisa Marie Presley.
For years Cage has been sharing his love for the rock and roll icon, he even got to play a man all-consumed by his obsession for Elvis in David Lynch’s Wild at heart. During a new interview, he talked about some of his regrets in his life, leading to him opening up about his love of the musician.
The actor said: “You got Elvis and David Bowie … they’re my heroes.” Cage was born on January 7, while the two singers’ birthdays are January 8. It’s a statement the actor has never wavered on.
In the new interview the American actor revealed he had recently been listening to Elvis’ Always On My Mind on repeat, before sharing some insight into the King’s singing talents.
Cage mused: “It’s clear to me that Elvis was an opera singer,” before showing off his own pipes by singing a verse of the aforementioned hit. Cage added: “I like to sing. It helps me relax.” (Via Los Angeles Times)
On top of loving the King’s music, Cage met and married Lisa Marie Presley in the early 2000s. The daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, married Cage for three and a half months from August 2002 to November 2002. Their divorce was finalised in 2004.
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In total, Lisa has been married four times, first marrying singer Danny Keough in 1989 until 1994. They had two children together. This was followed by her marriage to Michael Jackson – also in 1994. Their wedding took place less than a month after her first divorce. They remained together for two years.
Her final marriage was back in 2006 when she married musician Michael Lockwood. In 2008 they had twins, Harper and Finley, though in 2016 they filed for divorce.
This is when she met Cage, with the actor speaking about how they met in 2000 on ABC. He said: “I walk into a party not knowing who I’m going to meet and there’s this beautiful girl standing in the middle of the living room wearing this short leather skirt and this fluffy jacket. She looks up at me with these big beautiful soulful eyes that look like they have a sad story to tell. I just went ‘…oh’ and I was thunderstruck.” The party was a birthday for Johnny Ramone of The Ramones.
When the pair met, Lisa was engaged to someone else, though she quickly called it off for her romance with Cage. It was a brief candle though, as apparently the relationship was wrought with problems from the start. According to the New York Post, it came from a combination of her “devotion to Scientology”, the Hollywood spotlight and “Nic’s love of Elvis”.
Despite this, a source told the paper back in 2002: “When they announced their divorce, everyone was really shocked. No one saw it coming. The photoshoot took place over several days and they were really very nice.”
In 2003, Cage sat down with Larry King to discuss the short marriage. He described them both as “tyrannical pirates,” but said such strong personalities inevitably clash. Lisa later revealed that the marriage happened to stabilise their relationship, though it seemed to do the exact opposite.
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Cage later married Riko Shibata, with the two tying the knot in February 2021. He said: “I’m really happily married. I know five is a lot but I think I got it right this time.” (via Los Angeles Times).
The couple is expecting their first child together, with the news of the pregnancy coming earlier this month. They met while filming Prisoners of the Ghostland which was released in 2021.
