Lisa Marie Presley’s Ex-Husband Nicolas Cage Is ‘Heartbroken’ About Her Death

Less than a day after Lisa Marie Presley’s sudden death, her ex-husband Nicolas Cage is reacting to the sad news.

In a statement, Cage said, “This is devastating news. Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met. She lit up every room, and I am heartbroken. I find some solace believing she is reunited with her son Benjamin.”

On Thursday, Presley died at the age of 54 after suffering cardiac arrest at her Calabasas home. Though paramedics were able to help her regain a pulse before transporting her to the hospital, she was unable to be saved.

Cage and Presley met in 2000, but didn’t start dating until the following year. They eventually tied the knot in August 2002, but called it quits a couple of years later.

In 2003, Cage opened up on their whirlwind romance to the late Barbara Walters.

He shared, “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, and she looks up at me with these big, beautiful, soulful eyes that look like they have a sad story to tell, and I just went ‘Oh.’ I was thunderstruck.’”

“We got to talking, we got to know each other, and she’s hilarious and she’s a real firecracker and she tells it like it is,” he added.

Of their breakup, Cage commented, “Oftentimes, when you have two people who are very strong and their own personalities and rather intense, sometimes you can have a hard time meshing. It’s sad and I miss her every day. And sometimes I wish we couldn’t have rushed the marriage and sometimes I regret rushing the divorce, but it just seemed like it wasn’t going to change.”

That same year, Lisa shared her two cents on the relationship with Diane Sawyer. She said, “We honestly were joking, thinking we are like the new-millennium version of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor at this point. I mean, we are going to knock each other off.”

As for what attracted her to Cage, her third husband, Presley answered, “I like when someone’s shaking it up, when they’re different. I don’t know why. I’ll never know why. But it’s just what I get attracted to.”

Presley and Cage finalized their divorce in 2004.