In a heartfelt conversation that aired on October 8th, actress Riley Keough opened up about her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, in a deeply personal interview with Oprah Winfrey. The emotional sit-down, held at the Presley family’s iconic Graceland estate, marked Keough’s first time publicly discussing her mother’s death in such depth. The interview aired alongside the release of From Here to the Great Unknown, Lisa Marie Presley’s posthumous memoir, which Keough helped complete after her mother’s sudden passing.
Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of rock legend Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, died from cardiac arrest on January 12, 2023, at the age of 54. Her life had been filled with both great joys and profound tragedies, many of which are explored in her memoir. Riley Keough, her daughter with musician Danny Keough, shared some of the most intimate moments of her relationship with her mother during the Oprah interview, offering a glimpse into the pain and love that bound their family together.
One of the most poignant parts of the interview involved Keough listening to audio recordings of her mother, including Lisa Marie’s reflections on her highly publicized marriage to Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1996. “My experience with Michael was that he was kind and loving to me and my family,” Keough recounted her mother saying, describing the relationship as seemingly happy despite its eventual end.
However, much of Lisa Marie’s life was marked by loss, beginning with the death of her father, Elvis Presley, in 1977 when she was just nine years old. This pain only deepened in 2020 with the tragic suicide of her son, Benjamin Keough, at the age of 27. Riley shared how her mother was forever changed by Benjamin’s death. “The moment my brother died, I was like, ‘This is the end of her,’” Riley recalled tearfully. She described their bond as being as close as Elvis’s relationship with his own mother, Gladys Presley.
In the aftermath of Benjamin’s passing, Lisa Marie’s grief was overwhelming. Keough revealed the heartbreaking detail that her mother kept Benjamin’s body in their home for weeks before bringing him to Graceland for burial, saying that Lisa Marie would sit with him during that time. This story painted a raw picture of a mother who could not let go of her beloved son.
Keough also spoke candidly about her mother’s health struggles in her final days, noting that while she didn’t believe Lisa Marie had returned to drug use, she sensed a deep exhaustion in her. “It felt like a tired person,” Keough explained, a feeling that reinforced her concerns for her mother’s well-being.
Graceland, the storied home of Elvis Presley, remains a complicated place for Riley. As the sole inheritor of the estate, she shared her conflicting emotions about it. “I don’t want to come here usually,” she admitted, though she acknowledged feeling a sense of closeness when she visits the meditation garden, where her brother, mother, and grandfather are all buried. Despite her complicated relationship with the property, Keough expressed her commitment to maintaining it as a home, just as her mother would have wanted.
As Graceland continues to attract thousands of visitors daily, Keough’s instinct is to preserve its spirit as a family home. “It was our family’s home,” she stated, emphasizing her desire to honor her mother’s legacy while also coming to terms with her own role as the guardian of their family’s history.
Keough’s reflections in the Oprah interview offer a poignant glimpse into a life shaped by both extraordinary privilege and unimaginable grief, painting a portrait of a daughter determined to preserve her mother’s memory while grappling with the weight of her own loss.
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