Lisa Marie Presley‘s half-brother Navarone Garcia is stepping into the spotlight while his family continues to dispute his late half-sister’s will.
In a new interview with People, the 35-year-old son of Priscilla Presley said no one really knows who he truly is, and now that the spotlight is firmly on his family, he’s ready to change that:
“A lot of people know about me. But they don’t know me.”
Navarone was out of the public eye for most of his life, but according to him, his relation to the Presleys was always looming over his head:
“I got in trouble more than everybody else, because kids’ parents would find out who my mom was, and they’d want a reason to talk to her. I wasn’t very comfortable with it.”
The musician has only recently jumped back into the public eye, after the sudden death of his half-sister. He attended her memorial at Graceland last month, and he’s ready to tell the world his story. Speaking on Lisa Marie’s death, he said:
“It’s still so surreal.”
The family is still very much grieving, but from what we’re hearing about the late actress’ estate — there’s some trouble brewing. Priscilla filed a petition in Los Angeles questioning the “authenticity and validity” of Lisa Marie’s will. As you know, the matriarch discovered some changes had been made in 2016, swapping Priscilla and Barry Siegel for the late songstress’ children as trustees. So now momma is fighting to make that amendment invalid, which some are naturally calling a complete “money grab.”
Related: Lisa Marie’s Friend Supports Trust Going To Children
Navarone goes on in the interview to tell the story of how his mom and his father producer Marco Garibaldi ended their relationship in 2006 after they spent 20 years as a couple. The Them Guns frontman took note of how things changed after they broke up — particularly the way Priscilla didn’t play her ex Elvis Presley‘s music in the home until after their split:
“I think my dad had a bit of a complex about it. It wasn’t until after he left that my mom started playing his music again freely.”
It’s telling not just that she stopped for Marco — but also that she started playing it again after the breakup.
Speaking of stars in the family, while Navarone realizes he was lucky to have his mom’s help along the way, he says he’s no nepo baby:
“[There’s a] misconception that I was raised extravagantly with Elvis’ estate and money… That wasn’t the case.”
Even though the half-siblings were both musicians, he says he was never close to Lisa Marie in the years leading up to her death. How sad…
Then there’s the story of the name. The 35-year-old seems to live a life of shocking family news because he discovered pretty late in life that his dad lied about being from Italy and even changed his last name after being told he wouldn’t “make it” with a Hispanic last name. Marco Garibaldi was actually Marco Garcia — and from Brazil! Apparently when he confronted his father about this information he got from a Brazilian person claiming to be his “cousin” his father told him to “lose” his number. Ouch…
He wasn’t hurt by it for too long, though, because after he visited his Brazilian family he gained so much more:
“I lost one family member, but I gained 20-plus. I have zero regrets.”
The musician also admitted to struggling with drugs in his past, much like his late half-sister, but says he recovered and now only smokes marijuana and drinks alcohol (California sober as they say). Quitting was worth it, of course, but hard, as he recalls:
“I was pretty much in my bed in the fetal position all day. It feels like a different lifetime, almost. The whole world got a lot better [afterward].”
After everything, though, he feels as though he’s come out on top. And his relationship with his family is improving all the time — he even says Lisa Marie’s eldest daughter Riley Keough is doing great with her 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood. And he’s even got plans to take Priscilla back to Brazil:
“She was there in the ’80s, but I think she needs a reminder of how nice it is. I would love to move there someday.”
Hopefully by then all these last will arguments will be behind them…
Regardless, Navarone is happy about his life moving forward:
“There were some points where I didn’t think I’d make it here. I’m so proud of how far I’ve come.”
Reactions, Perezcious readers? What did YOU know about Lisa Marie’s half-brother before now??
[Image via Judy Eddy/FayesVision/WENN.com]
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