The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll just couldn’t help falling in love. In his short life, Elvis Presley had several high-profile relationships, though he famously cheated on most of the women he dated. Despite his reputation as a ladies man, the King’s exes tend to speak very fondly of him, even to this day. Now, on the 45th anniversary of Presley’s untimely death and amid renewed interest in his life following the Austin Butler-led, Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis, V wanted to look closer at five of the women who stood behind the King.

Anita Wood

Presley started dating budding young actress Anita Wood in 1957, his first major relationship in the public eye. In an interview with Elvis Australia, Wood confirmed that the pair dated until 1962, and that she even gave up a contract from Paramount Pictures to move to Memphis for Presley. Wood went on to marry former NFL star Johnny Brewer.

Priscilla Presley

Presley famously met Priscilla Beaulieu in 1959 when he was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army, when he was 24 and she was just 14 years old. The pair stayed in contact after Presley left Germany, and towards the end of 1962, Presley convinced Priscilla’s parents to let her move to Memphis, where she lived with him at Graceland.

The pair wed on May 1, 1967, in Las Vegas, and welcomed daughter Lisa Marie nine months later. The marriage didn’t last long, as they officially separated on Feb. 23, 1972, and divorced on Oct. 9, 1973. In her 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me, Priscilla admits that their relationship deteriorated soon after the birth of their daughter, and that she left Presley for her karate teacher, Mike Stone.

Presley never remarried or had another child, but Priscilla went on to have a long-term relationship with a man named Marco Garibaldi, resulting in a son, Navarone, born in 1987.

Priscilla is still an advocate for Presley, having helped with the creation of the 2022 Baz Luhrmann biopic on Presley’s life, Elvis. Speaking on the 45th anniversary of Presley’s death, Priscilla shared with the TODAY Show that she still tries to keep his legacy in tact. “Anything he wanted to do or wished to do as far as in life, I want to try to get that to happen,” she said. “It’s a big responsibility.”

Ann-Margret

Ann-Margret starred alongside Presley in 1964’s Viva Las Vegas, and the speculation about their off-screen romance, despite his relationship with Priscilla, significantly boosted both the popularity of the film and Ann-Margret’s reputation as an actress. Though not much is known about the extent of their relationship, in her 1994 memoir, Ann-Margret called Presley her “soulmate,” and spoke of the romantic things he would do for her. Priscilla also noted in her own memoir that Ann-Margret caused a strain in the early years of their relationship.

Following Presley’s death in 1977, Ann-Margret attended his Memphis funeral with her husband.

Linda Thompson

Six months after his divorce from Priscilla, Presley began dating Linda Thompson, who would later marry and divorce both Caitlyn Jenner and David Foster. At the time she began her four-year relationship with Presley, Thompson was a 22-year-old up-and-coming model, having recently been crowned Miss Tennessee Universe.

After first meeting, Thompson quickly moved in with Presley in his Graceland home, where she lived until their split in 1976. “We both shared a sense of humor that was very much like the other,” Thompson shared in a rare interview with talkshow host Larry King in 2002. “We just hit it off immediately because we grew up in Memphis, we had the same religious beliefs, the same love for our family, devotion to mother and father.”

Ginger Alden

Ginger Alden was Presley last real relationship, which ended when she found his dead body at his Graceland home in August 1977. A Memphis native, Alden met Presley for the first time when she was just 5 years old, though she was formally introduced to him again in 1976 after her sister won the title of Miss Tennessee.

Alden and Presley began a whirlwind romance after that, and the two got engaged in 1977 when Alden was just 20. After Presley’s death, Alden was worked as an actress and a model.