Benjamin Keough’s Resting Place Was Moved To Make Way For Lisa Marie Presley’s Grave At Graceland

Jan 23, 2023

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide that may be troubling for some readers.

Born on Feb. 1, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, to parents Elvis and Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley was one of the biggest celebrity children upon her birth. However, sadly, she passed at the age of 54 on Jan. 12, 2023, after being rushed to the emergency room when she was found unresponsive in her California home. 

Lisa Marie was born exactly nine months after her parents famously tied the knot in a brief ceremony in their suite at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. After Elvis’s death in 1977, she was listed as a beneficiary on her father’s last will, along with her grandfather Vernon and great-grandmother Minnie. However, Vernon passed in 1979, and Minnie a year after. This made Lisa Marie the only surviving beneficiary of Elvis’s trust. In 1993, she inherited her father’s estate, which had grown to $100 million. 

She was the only daughter of Elvis, which means that her four children were his only grandchildren. Lisa Marie had actress Riley Keough and her late son Benjamin Keough with her ex-husband Danny Keough while she shared her twins, Harper and Finley, with her ex-husband, Michael Lockwood. She was also famously married to popstar Michael Jackson and actor Nicolas Cage.

Following in the footsteps of her father, Lisa Marie ventured into the music business, releasing a few albums and numerous songs. Aside from her musical career, Lisa Marie also devoted her life to humanitarian efforts through the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation. 

Much like her father, her life, too, was filled with many tragedies. Among the most heartbreaking was the passing of her son, Benjamin, in 2020.

At the age of 20, Lisa Marie married her first husband, musician Danny Keough. The following year she had Riley, followed by Benjamin in 1992. The couple divorced in 1994. 

In an interview from 2012, Lisa Marie Presley revealed her son Benjamin resembled her father the most.

“He was at the Opry and was the quiet storm behind the stage!” Lisa Marie remarked in 2012. “Everybody turned around and looked when he was over there. Everybody was grabbing him for a photo because it is just uncanny.”

However, tragedy hit on July 14, 2020, when it was reported Benjamin had passed at the age of 27. He had been found dead with a gunshot wound in his upper torso, believed to be self-inflicted.

Benjamin’s death left Lisa Marie “beyond devastated,” as her representative, Roger Widynowski, told People in a statement:

"She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter Riley. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life."

Years later, his passing continued to haunt the doting mother, who wrote a heartfelt essay in honor of National Grief Awareness Day published by People on Aug. 30, 2022.

“I have been living in the horrific reality of (grief’s) unrelenting grips since my son's death two years ago,” she began.

“It's a real choice to keep going, one that I have to make every single day and one that is constantly challenging to say the least ... But I keep going for my girls. I keep going because my son made it very clear in his final moments that taking care of his little sisters and looking out for them were on the forefront of his concerns and his mind,” she added.

In January 2023, Lisa Marie’s passing shook the industry and triggered a wave of tributes, including from Tom Hanks, who played Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager, in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic “Elvis.”

“We are heartbroken over the loss of Lisa Marie Presley. Absolutely broken…” the actor wrote on Instagram.

Songwriter and actress Linda Thompson, who was romantically linked to Elvis after his split from Priscilla, told People: “Lisa Marie was so much like her daddy it was uncanny. She had his deep, soulful eyes, his pouty lip, and his raucous, irreverent sense of humor. She was a beautiful contradiction like Elvis… complicated in her simplicity. She was brutally honest, straightforward, loving and loyal. I don't think there was a phony cell in her body. I believe she lived her life authentically.”

“Lisa Marie was, without a doubt, the greatest love of Elvis’s life,” Thompson added.

Meanwhile, a statement by Riley’s representatives revealed Lisa Marie would be laid to rest at Elvis’s former residence, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee, next to her son Benjamin. Graceland’s Meditation Garden is also the final resting place of Elvis, his parents Vernon and Gladys, and his grandmother Minnie Mae, who was interred there after her passing in 1980.

Back in 2003, in an example of her wit and dark humor, Lisa Marie opened up about the Meditation Garden. “I don’t plan on anything. I’m sure I'll end up there. Or I'll shrink my head and put it in a glass box in the living room,” she said in jest. “I’ll get more tourists to Graceland that way.”

Days before Lisa Marie's memorial service, Page Six revealed that Benjamin's grave was being moved to make space for his mother. A source close to the Presley family told the outlet, "They are moving the grave of Benjamin to make room for Lisa in the cemetery behind the house," while a rep confirmed that Benjamin's grave was indeed moved "slightly" to make way for Lisa Marie's final resting place. TMZ obtained photos of the preparations that took place at Graceland ahead of Lisa's "Celebration of Life" ceremony.

Ahead of the memorial, Riley, Harper, Finley and Priscilla issued a statement to US Weekly that said they were "grateful for the support, well-wishes, and outpouring of love honoring their beloved Lisa Marie.”

It was a sad day for the Presley family and fans of the “King of Rock and Roll” when his only daughter was laid to rest on Jan. 22, 2023, at Graceland. Lisa Marie's nearest and dearest were present to bid their final farewell, recalling memories and paying tribute to her life. However, no speech stirred more hearts than her mother’s. 

Priscilla embodied pure grief when she gave her eulogy at her daughter’s funeral that day. She began by saying she was “blown away by how many people” were present before she explained she'd read out words her granddaughter Riley had written.

“‘I have no idea how to put my mother into words. Truth is, there are too many. Lisa Marie Presley was an icon, a role model, a superhero to many people all over the world, but Mama was my icon, my role model, my superhero — in much more ways than one,’” Priscilla read. “‘Even now, I can’t get across everything there is to be understood or known about her, but as she always said, I'll do my best.’” 

What are your thoughts on Lisa Marie and Benjamin resting side by side at the end? Have you ever visited Graceland’s Meditation Garden? Let us know, and pass this along to friends and family, too.

If you or anybody you know is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, please visit Find A Helpline | Free emotional support in 130+ countries to find your local suicide prevention hotline. The hotline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.