Riley Keough says Lisa Marie was in 'much pain' and 'died of a broken heart' after son Benjamin's death

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE:  Riley Keough has spoken out about the deep impact of grief on her family, acknowledging the widespread belief that her mother Lisa Marie Presley died of a 'broken heart.'

Riley reflected on her brother Benjamin Keough who died by suicide at the age of 27 in 2020 and how his loss deeply affected Lisa Marie. She died in 2023 at the age of 53 from a small-bowel obstruction after bariatric surgery.

Riley Keough says Lisa Marie Presley never overcame Benjamin Keough’s death

Lisa Marie Presley was open about her struggles with grief, writing in 2022 that she would never “move on” from Benjamin’s death. In one Instagram post in 2020, Lisa described her pain saying, "My heart and soul went with you."

"The depth of the pain is suffocating and bottomless without you every moment of every day," she said at the time.

"My mom tried her best to find strength for me and my younger sisters after Ben died, but we knew how much pain she was in,” Riley Kough told People.

"My mom physically died from the after effects of her surgery, but we all knew she died of a broken heart," the 35-year-old added. 

In her posthumous memoir 'From Here to the Great Unknown', Lisa Marie also described how she and Riley helped others cope with similar losses.

“One kid wrote to Riley and said, ‘I didn’t kill myself last night because of what you said it would do to my family and those that are left behind. So thank you.’ That helped me. That brought me up,” she wrote.

Riley Keough reflects on Lisa Marie Presley’s hope for human connection

Riley Keough mentioned that working on her mother's memoir involved listening to taped memories Lisa Marie Presley had recorded before her death.

Riley shared how difficult it was to write about her brother's death and her mother's struggles with addiction and eventual death. However, she hopes that through the memoir, people will find connection in Lisa Marie’s story.

Riley expressed her mother’s desire to help others through her memoir, explaining that Lisa Marie's story is not only about grief.

“I hope that in an extraordinary circumstance people relate to a very human experience of love, heartbreak, loss, addiction, and family,” Riley said.

“Her hope with this book was just human connection,” she added, noting that she shares the same hope.

Lisa Marie Presley recalls special moments with Elvis Presley in memoir

In the memoir which will be out on October 8, Lisa Marie Presley fondly recalled moments with her father Elvis Presley, including attending his shows.

“The electricity of those shows. There’s nothing I’ve felt that’s been even close to that feeling, ever,” she wrote, noting that she especially loved watching him perform songs like 'Hurt' and 'How Great Thou Art.'

"I would ask him to sing those songs for me and he would always say yes," Lisa Marie wrote in the memoir which she had tapped which now Kough has put into writing. 

While Lisa Marie cherished being by his side, she disliked being in the limelight. She remembered a time when Elvis introduced her to the audience in Las Vegas.

“It’s not that I wasn’t proud or that I didn’t love him. I just liked the limelight on him,” she shared.

Lisa Marie also reminisced about her father visiting her school, describing how everyone was excited, including herself, to see him.

" I knew he was coming, and I couldn’t wait. I could feel the teachers’ nervousness and excitement, too. My little student friends were so excited that I got even more excited — everybody was just running around crazy," Lisa Marie describes her father in the memoir the excerpts of which were published in People.