In a forthcoming memoir, the late Lisa Marie Presley discloses that she kept her late son, Benjamin Keough’s, body at her home for two months after his death in July 2020.
After the suicide of Benjamin, the grandson of Elvis Presley, at the age of 27, Presley decided to keep his body on dry ice in a separate casita at her Calabasas, California residence. As California law does not mandate immediate burial, it gave her the time needed for closure. “There is no law in the state of California that you have to bury someone immediately,” Presley noted in her memoir, “From Here to the Great Unknown.”
Presley engaged a sympathetic funeral home owner who agreed to transport Benjamin’s body to her home. She kept the room at 55 degrees Fahrenheit to preserve his remains. She conceded that her decision to keep his body at home might seem unconventional to some, but she found it crucial for her healing journey.
Presley wrote, “I got so used to him being there. I think it would scare the living [expletive] out of anybody else, but I was grateful to have the opportunity to spend time with him.”
During this grieving period, Presley and her daughter, Riley Keough, chose to get matching tattoos in honor of Benjamin. A tattoo artist was invited to their home to see Benjamin’s tattoos for reference. “We wanted to get something that was meaningful,” Riley shared.
Presley faced a difficult decision regarding where to bury her son; she was split between Hawaii and Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, where her father, Elvis Presley, is interred. In the end, Benjamin was laid to rest at Graceland, marking the first burial at the estate in four decades.
The memoir further explores Presley’s battle with grief and addiction following Benjamin’s death. Riley Keough indicated that her mother was “destroyed” by his passing. “She was completely heartbroken, but she stayed sober for him,” Riley stated.
Lisa Marie Presley passed away on January 12, 2023, at 54, due to complications from previous weight loss surgery, as determined by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. She was buried next to Benjamin in Graceland’s Meditation Garden.
After her mother’s death, Riley Keough took over the task of completing the memoir. She referred to recordings of Presley’s memories, which covered life at Graceland, her relationship with her parents, and her marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.
The memoir is intended to provide insight into Presley’s journey through love, loss, and resilience. It emphasizes the need for open discussions about mental health and addiction.
