Elvis Presley’s eldest daughter Riley Keough has intimated her life at Graceland in Memphis, where her late mother, Lisa Marie Presley, spent part of her childhood.
Keough, sole heir to a famous fortuneanalyzed hours of audio recordings made by the mother of Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s only daughter while writing her memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, and learned new details about the family. Keogh fulfilled his mother’s wish and subsequently co-authored the book. she died at the age of 54 January 2023. The name of the memoir has just been given. Winfrey’s 108th Book Club Suggestion.
in special special On his show with Oprah Winfrey, which aired Tuesday night, Keough shared his mother’s last recorded words, talked about Elvis’ impact on his family, and more. Watch the full special in the video player above.
“I think she absolutely reveals a part of herself in this book,” said Keogh of Harpo Productions’ production of “The Oprah Special: The Presleys – Elvis, Lisa Marie and Riley.” He spoke to Winfrey inside.
Here are some highlights from the one-hour special.
Mr Keogh says hearing his mother’s last words was ‘very powerful’
A few months before her death, Lisa Marie asked Keough to help her complete her memoir.
“She was incredibly insecure, and I think there were moments where she thought, ‘Why am I writing a book about myself?'” She especially likes to talk about herself. It wasn’t,” Keogh told Winfrey.
While Keogh struggles to reveal private details about her life, her mother is reluctant to share her story in hopes of connecting with people and sending a message “in a hopeful way.” He said he no longer had any money. Especially after she passed away. Death of son Benjamin Keogh by suicide In 2020.
In the recording, Lisa Marie described Graceland as a whirlpool with no rules, saying she was “mostly mischievous” and a “true wild child.”
As an adult, Lisa Marie frequently returned to the compound to feel her father’s presence.
“I’m trying to grieve my dad. When I go there, he’s still there. I don’t necessarily cry, but I still feel all the energy that’s there. It’s just, it’s still there. It’s just that,” Lisa Marie can be heard saying in the audio recording.
Ms Keogh said hearing her mother’s last words on tape was in some ways a “beautiful blessing”, but she also said hearing those words was “very powerful”.
“It was a really strange experience because after 30 minutes it felt like she was there,” Keogh said.
Ms Keogh said her mother was a “self-proclaimed daddy’s girl”.
“I feel so honored to have been able to spend every moment with him,” Lisa Marie said in the recording. Elvis died in 1977 at the age of 42, when Lisa Marie was only 9 years old.
Lisa Marie’s last interaction with Elvis before his death
Keogh showed Winfrey the back door leading into Graceland’s courtyard, where Lisa Marie and Elvis last spoke. He was coming back from racquetball and she was about to go out for a ride in the golf cart.
Keogh said her mother woke up the morning Elvis died on Aug. 16, 1977, and instinctively knew something was wrong.
Keogh said the memoir is the first time Lisa Marie has spoken in detail about that day.
“And she said goodnight to him. I think she knew how to say goodnight, like she had some sense of it. She had a feeling many times that he wasn’t okay. I think it was, you know?” Keogh explained. “She told me that sometimes she would find him in the bathroom looking a little listless, or holding on to the railing to stand up straight. , she wrote these letters when she was little and let us know.” So there was some kind of meaning in that. ”
Lisa Marie says she saw thousands of people mourn the fans People lined up at the house to pay their respects to their father, who was known as the “King of Rock and Roll.”
She said in her memoir that she was “so busy seeing other people’s grief” that she struggled with her own grief. At night, after everyone was gone, Lisa Marie went downstairs to see her father’s body.
“I went to where he was lying in the coffin, just to be with him, touch his face, hold his hand, talk to him. I asked him, ‘Why? Why does this happen?’” Lisa Marie wrote in her memoir.
Inside Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson’s relationship
After divorcing Riley and Ben Keogh’s father, Danny Keogh, Lisa Marie caused a stir when she announced in 1994 that she had married Michael Jackson. The marriage lasted two years. At the time, Keough recalled giving Jackson the nickname “Mimi.”
“I remember how much she loved Michael Jackson. She was really into him,” Keogh said.
In an audio recording, Lisa Marie spoke of her admiration for Jackson, saying that he always paid attention to others and made sure they felt heard.
“He was really, really interested and fascinated by everything you had to say about what you did. So he uplifts people. I think he does that. That was great. Yeah, he did that with me,” Lisa Marie said of Jackson.
Ms Keogh said the couple had a “loving relationship that appears to be very happy”. The two often stayed at Lisa Marie’s house, rather than Jackson’s Neverland, to give the family a sense of normalcy, to prepare themselves, and to take their children to school together.
Lisa Marie then briefly married Nicolas Cage in 2002. She was then married to Michael Lockwood from 2006 to 2021. They have twin girls, Harper and Finley, who just turned 16.
Keogh describes an ‘unbearably dark’ time for his family
Ms Keogh said her mother was a rebellious teenager but did not believe she had the “proverbial drug problem”.
Her first taste of opioids came in 2008, when she was about 40, when she gave birth to twin girls by C-section. At one point, she was taking dozens of pills a day, according to the book.
“She pulled me aside and said, ‘I–I’m on opiates. And I was taking them first for the pain, and then to help me sleep at night. “Now it’s like taking opiates. They were for fun,” Keogh recalled.
Eventually, she went to a rehab facility, but then returned to drugs.
The drug abuse became chaotic, and Keogh said her mother and twins had to live together in Nashville. Her father, Danny Keough, also moved in to help.
“It seemed like it would have been better if we all stayed together,” Keough says in the book, “but it felt like it was the end of everything. , a happy life, but the house took a turn and became unbearably dark for all of us.”
It was then that Mr. Keogh realized that rehab might not work and that Lisa Marie’s problems might be deeper than a casual drug problem. Mr. Keogh often saw his mother crying while listening to Elvis songs when she was alone and drunk.
Lisa Marie says her son “looked so much like[Elvis]it was scary”
Ms. Winfrey recalled Lisa Marie telling her: After her son’s suicide, she didn’t know if she would survive. He struggled with drugs and alcohol throughout his life.
“I knew this was the end for her, you know?” Keogh admitted. “I couldn’t imagine a world where she could get by without him.”
In her memoir, Lisa Marie writes about her close relationship with her son.
“Ben looked very, very, very much like his grandfather in every way. He looked like his grandfather. Ben looked so much like his grandfather that it was scary. I thought so. So I didn’t want to say it.” Ben and I had a similar relationship to my father and his mother. It loved my father across generations. She drank herself to death worrying about him, but Ben never had a chance,” Lisa Marie wrote.
After Ben’s death, Lisa Marie and Keogh searched his phone and found messages saying they felt he was suffering from mental health issues. That surprised Keogh. She knew he liked to party and “go on vendors,” but she didn’t think he was depressed.
Winfrey said “one of the most shocking things” shared in the book was that Lisa Marie grieved Ben by bringing a coffin into his home for about two months.
Keogh said her mother found a very caring funeral home owner who showed her how to store the casket until it was ready for burial. She regularly brought in dry ice as part of the preservation process. And she often sat with his body.
Lisa Marie was buried next to Ben Elvis was also buried in Graceland’s meditation garden.
Mr Keogh said he had been worried about Lisa Marie in the weeks before her death.
“I think there’s always been a kind of underlying thing to me because I felt like I was spending time on borrowed time with her,” Keogh said.
mother and child matching tattoo
Before saying their final goodbyes and burying Ben, Lisa Marie wanted to make his last wish come true. The idea was to get matching tattoos with his son.
“I think this story is possible. I can see how insane and absurd this sounds on paper. But I think my mother was exactly who she was. I don’t know if she was. Nothing — you know, she wasn’t a crazy woman,” Keogh said before beginning.
Lisa Marie brought in a tattoo artist to write Ben’s name on her hand. To ensure accurate placement, she took the artist into the room and opened Ben’s coffin to reveal his hand.
“Fortunately (the tattoo artist) acted in a very normal manner throughout,” Ms Keogh said. “It was definitely one of the most absurd moments.”
She remembers her mother opening the casket, the tattoo artist studying the placement, and going back and redoing it.
“When he left, I thought, ‘Do you have any idea how crazy you just did?'” Keogh joked with Winfrey, adding that the tattoo artist I asked my mother if I would write a book about this tattoo.
Graceland’s future and powerful lessons learned
Keough, the actress who starred in “Daisy Jones and the Six,” said she plans to continue running the beloved Graceland facility, which serves more than 2,000 people. daily tour.
“I think my instinct in everything is always to do what my mother would have wanted me to do, which is to protect the home. It was our family’s home,” Keogh said.
Mr Keogh said he and his mother went through many difficult times, but the love was always there. And that’s what she wants to convey. My 2 year old daughter Tupelo.
“I hope (Tupelo) felt loved the same way my mom made us feel loved. It was unconditional. Really,” she said. Ta.
Keogh added, “She’s done things — we’ve had fights. She’s done things that I don’t approve of. We’ve had bad interactions, like people who do drugs.” But…love was always there, you know?”
If you or someone you know is experiencing mental distress or a suicidal crisis, you can contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 . You can also chat with 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline here.
For more information about mental health care resources and support, contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email us at info@). nami.org
