The Heartbreaking Way Lisa Marie Presley Dealt With Her Father Elvis' Death

Riley Keough has had to adjust to a new normal since the heartbreaking death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, in 2023 at age 54. But Keough was able to find the strength to finish Lisa Marie's memoir, "From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir." According to the book's publisher, Penguin Random House, Lisa Marie asked her daughter to help her finish the memoir a month before her death, adding that using the tapes Lisa Marie recorded helped Keough successfully co-author the book, while still allowing her mother to tell her own story.

During a September 2024 interview with People, Keough said that being the daughter of Elvis meant her mother was "constantly talked about, argued over and dissected." Keough added, "What she wanted to do in her memoir, and what I hope I've done in finishing it for her, is to go beneath the magazine headline idea of her and reveal the core of who she was ... I want to give voice to my mother in a way that eluded her while she was alive." Although Lisa Marie found success in her own right, Keough said her mother struggled for years after Elvis' death.

Lisa Marie Presley was 9 years old when her father, Elvis Presley, was found dead on the bathroom floor of his famed Graceland home in Memphis, Tennessee. During an interview with Radar, Lisa Marie recalled their last interaction, as Elvis kissed her goodnight when he found her awake past her bedtime. A few hours later, she would see her father lying unresponsive on the red shag rug next to the toilet, while his fiancée, Ginger Alden, tended to him. There's no surprise that this experience was traumatic for young Lisa Marie.

Prior to the release of "From Here to the Great Unknown," Riley Keough spoke with former talk show host Oprah Winfrey for Winfrey's "An Oprah Special: The Presleys — Elvis, Lisa Marie and Riley." In a clip shared to People, Keough talked about her mother's struggles year's after Elvis' death. "It was a very private thing for her," the actor shared. "She would listen to his music alone, if she was drunk, and cry."

Lisa Marie confirmed this to Rolling Stone (via Elvis Australia) years before her death, admitting she would be "more prone" to listen to his '70s music. "I was around then. They bring back more memories," Lisa Marie said. Some of those included "Mary in the Morning," "Just Pretend," "Those I Love," among others.