Michael Lockwood Opens up After Ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley’s Death | Says 14-YO Twins “Will Carry Our Family’s Legacy”

"The most important thing to me at this time is to take care of my daughters, making sure they always feel safe and loved," he said.

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Jason Kempin

By Suchitra B

January 19, 2023

Posted January 19, 2023

In the wake of his ex-wife's untimely passing last week, Michael Lockwood, 61, Lisa Marie Presley's ex-husband is speaking out about the family's loss. "We are all reeling from the sudden passing of Lisa Marie Presley, the mother of my two beautiful twin daughters Harper and Finley," Lockwood said in a statement to PEOPLE about Lisa Marie and his 14-year-old girls. "Nothing prepares us for such an unexpected tragedy. It is incomprehensible."

Elvis and Priscilla Presley's lone child, Lisa Marie, passed away on January 12 at just 54 years old after being brought to the hospital for what might have been a heart attack. Lockwood, in the statement, expresses his concern as a father over his young twins he shared with Lisa Marie, "The most important thing to me at this time is to take care of my daughters, making sure they always feel safe and loved," he said. He further added, "Both of them have incredible spirit and they will carry our family's legacy on for the rest of their lives. Since they were born, Harper and Finley have brought me profound joy and I remain devoted to them. We ask for privacy at this incredibly difficult time."

Presley married Lockwood in 2006, her fourth spouse, and divorced him in 2016. The former partners had joint custody over their twin daughters. But the two had a beautiful relationship while it lasted. The singer went public about her relationship with Lockwood in 2005, per US Weekly.

The musical director worked with her on her album Now What. In an interview in 2005, the singer gushed about him. “I could envision spending the rest of my life with him, easily,” she said. She added, “I just had this idea we would be perfect together. And I don’t think I realized how right I was when I thought that. You know, just everything. We’re together 24/7. We do everything together. I’ve never had a relationship like this before.”

Image Source: Getty Images | Kevin Winter

The Lights Out singer made her pregnancy and impending twins with the guitarist public two years after their wedding. Harper and Finley, their daughters, were born in October 2008. While first-time parent Lockwood was "a nervous wreck for the first few weeks," Lisa Marie told PEOPLE shortly after their birth that they quickly settled into a routine. She said, "Michael takes one, I take the other, and we switch off. The important thing is to give equal time to each."

Lisa Marie then filed for divorce from Lockwood in June 2016 after ten years of marriage, and two months later, she entered rehab due to substance abuse problems. A bitter custody dispute followed. At the time, sources claimed Lockwood prevented the twins from attending Elvis' 85th birthday celebration in Memphis. Lisa Marie and Lockwood's divorce was finally formalized in May 2021, five years after their breakup.