Riley Keough Remembers Last Moment With ‘Fierce’ & ‘Wonderful Mother’ Lisa Marie Presley

Aug 10, 2023

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

Riley Keough was born to Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of rock and roll megastar Elvis Presley and his wife, Priscilla Presley. Riley’s father is Danny Keough, a musician Lisa Marie married in 1988 at the age of 21. The pair had two children – Riley, born in 1989, and her brother Benjamin, born in 1992.

However, Lisa Marie divorced Danny in 1994 and, 20 days later, married pop star Michael Jackson. Two years later, Lisa Marie filed for divorce from Jackson. In 2002, Lisa Marie wed actor Nicolas Cage, and the couple stayed married for just three months before they, too, split. In January 2006, Lisa Marie married guitarist and producer Michael Lockwood. Her first husband, Danny, whom Lisa Marie had remained close to even after their breakup, served as the best man at her fourth wedding. Lisa Marie had two children with Lockwood, giving Riley two half-siblings in the form of fraternal twins, Harper and Finley. 

Riley’s childhood was filled with frequent changes, excitement and a measure of instability. As her mother lived a vivacious and thrilling life, Riley grew up in various cities, some days finding herself in the rooms of Graceland or the halls of Neverland. She also split her time between her mother and father, who lived in Hawaii.

As Riley grew older, she began pursuing a career in modeling before pivoting to acting. Although she was fearful of failure, she was encouraged by her famous mother to follow her passions and commit to them 100%. Now, the star in her own right has opened up about her mother and why she feels Lisa Marie was “the best mom.”

As the granddaughter of Elvis, Riley knows what it’s like to be in the spotlight. With her granddad, mother and father all having made inroads in the music industry, one would have thought Riley would follow the same road. However, Keough instead pursued another avenue in the entertainment business and has since found success along the way.

Born on May 29, 1989, in Santa Monica, California, Riley’s life took a tumultuous turn at the age of 6 when her parents divorced. While she admitted her life with her mother, Lisa Marie, was comfortable, she also appreciated the less luxurious lifestyle of her musician father, Danny. 

“I grew up very privileged with my mother,” she told The Guardian and added: “But my dad didn’t live like that. And I think experiencing both sides has been helpful.”

By 15, she was running the catwalks for top fashion houses before steadily building a name in acting for herself with well-received turns in films such as “The Runaways,” “Magic Mike,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” “Logan Lucky” and “Zola.” Despite being lauded for her natural onscreen charm, Riley admitted she was initially plagued by the fear of being seen as a “nepo baby.”

“I grew up with my mom saying, ‘Anything you do in life, you’re going to have to take it seriously, and work really hard at it, and be really good at it. Don’t just dip your toes into things,’” she told InStyle magazine. “Which is my nature anyway, with acting and with things I want to be doing. I also had this thing where, when you grow up in L.A. and everyone's acting, I felt this sense of, oh gosh ... I was a little bit afraid to fail.”

However, tragedy hit on July 14, 2020, when it was reported Riley's brother, Benjamin, had passed away at the age of 27 after being found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his upper torso. Three years later, Keough would suffer another blow with the passing of their mother on Jan. 12, 2023, at the age of 54.

While Riley’s life may have seen more losses of close loved ones than most at such a young age, she always remembers them and pays tribute to their memory in touching ways.

In a cover interview for Vanity Fair’s September 2023 edition, Riley spoke in depth about her childhood, growing up in the public eye and her relationship with her mother and grandmother, Priscilla. Following Lisa Marie’s passing, Riley and Priscilla made headlines over their legal back-and-forth concerning the Presley estate. The matter was put to rest when a judge officially named Riley its sole trustee. Priscilla had also fought to ensure a burial spot in Graceland’s Meditation Garden. Despite the apparent friction, Riley said there was no bad blood between them, and Priscilla has simply “just been my grandma.”

“Things with Grandma will be happy,” Riley said. “They’ve never not been happy. … There was a bit of upheaval, but now everything’s going to be how it was. She’s a beautiful woman, and she was a huge part of creating my grandfather’s legacy and Graceland.”

Riley pointed to the media for blowing up the burial issue when behind the scenes, it wasn’t a contentious matter.

“I don’t know why she wouldn’t be buried at Graceland. I don’t understand what the drama in the news was about. Yeah. If she wants to be, of course. Sharing Graceland with the world was her idea from the start,” Riley explained.

In the same Vanity Fair piece, Riley opened up about her late mother and the last time she ever saw her in person, which was the night after the Golden Globes in which the “Elvis” biopic won one award for Best Actor for its lead Austin Butler.

“We had dinner,” Riley recalled. “That was the last time I saw her. I remember thinking about how beautiful she looked, and that was my strongest memory of the dinner.”

When asked to describe her mother, a flustered Riley responded, “Oh my gosh, I think it would take hours and hours to summarize her, but she was really one of a kind.”

As best she could, Riley summarized Lisa Marie as such:

“She was just so unapologetically herself in every circumstance, and so strong. The life she had was not easy, and the treachery she endured and the lack of real love and real friends. … People were just coming for her since she was born — wanting something from her and not being totally authentic. She had to develop very thick skin. She was a very powerful presence and extremely loving and extremely loyal and sort of a lioness — a fierce woman, and a really wonderful mother. I think that would be my summary because I’m her daughter. She was the best mom.”

She also touched on her grieving process, saying she had “been through a great deal of pain.”

“Parts of me have died and I’ve felt like my heart has exploded, but I also feel… I have strengthened the qualities that have come about through adversity.”

Do you sympathize with the losses Riley Keough has had to face in the past few years? Do you think the Presley legacy will be safe in her hands? If so, let us know, then pass this on to family and friends, 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.