Riley Keough has honored her late mother Lisa Marie Presley by publishing her memoir From Here to the Great Unknown. The actress was helping co-write the book before Presley’s death in January 2023 at the age of 54. Keough carried on her mother’s wishes and finished the memoir, which was released on Tuesday. The book covers every aspect of Lisa Marie’s life, including the tragic death of her father, Elvis Presley.
Lisa Marie is the only child of Elvis and his ex-wife Priscilla Presley. Growing up, she was described as a “daddy’s girl” and spent most of her time at Graceland. But her world came crashing down on August 16, 1977, when Elvis died at the age of 42.
Lisa Marie was 9 at the time of her father’s death. But even at a young age, she had an instinct he wouldn’t be around long.
In a CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey, Keough shares her mother’s recollection of the day of Elvis’ death. Lisa last saw her father alive the evening before and even then, sensed something was off.
And she said good night to him and I think she knew saying good night, like she had some kind of a sense. I think she had a sense many times that he wasn’t okay, you know? She would tell me that, you know, sometimes she would find him in his bathroom looking kind of out of it or holding onto the railing to, you know, stand up straight. And she also wrote these letters when she was little that we have, kind of saying, I hope my daddy doesn’t die. So there was some kind of sense there.
Riley Keough Says Lisa Marie Presley Struggled in Her Grief for Elvis
Losing her father at such a young age was traumatic for Lisa Marie. In the days following his death, thousands of fans lined up outside of Graceland to pay tribute to the singer. In one poignant excerpt, Lisa wrote of going downstairs at nighttime to see Elvis’ body.
I went down to where he was lying in the casket, just to be with him, to touch his face and hold his hand, to talk to him. I asked him, ‘Why is this happening? Why are you doing this?’
The grief over losing Elvis is something the star struggled with into adulthood. “Her grief was very…I don’t think she knew how to process it,” Keough told Oprah.
The Under the Bridge star revealed her mother grieved in private by listening to his music and crying. But there were several times she witnessed her mother’s breakdowns.
I would walk in her room and she had speakers – because this was back in the day – and she would be sitting on the floor crying and she’d listen to her dad’s music.
From Here to the Great Unknown is already #2 on Amazon’s bestsellers list and is Oprah’s current book club pick. Fans can read more about Lisa Marie Presley’s life story in this touching memoir, now available for purchase.
