What We Know About Riley Keough's Bond With Michael Jackson

"Daisy Jones & the Six" star Riley Keough began her acting career in 2010 and has worked to make a name for herself in the industry. But many fans immediately know her as the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and the granddaughter of Elvis Presley. While her famous family tree is an ever-present topic, she has another elite connection as well.

Riley was the stepdaughter of Michael Jackson. The late Grammy-winning musician married Lisa Marie in 1994, just 20 days after her divorce from Riley's father, Danny Keough. The marriage between The King of Pop and The King of Rock and Roll's daughter captured the public's attention and made headlines around the world. That story, along with many others, are featured in Lisa Marie's memoir, "From Here to the Great Unknown."

Riley spoke about what it was like when Jackson married her mom on "Today with Hoda & Jenna" in October 2024. "In hindsight, I understand that it was a big thing of them together, but it felt very normal," she said. "They lived together and would take me to school and, you know, just the regular, married stuff."

Though rumors swirled at the time that Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley's marriage was a public relations stunt, Riley Keough's memories of him don't reflect any of that drama. "In hindsight, I can see how crazy these things would be to somebody from the outside," she told Vanity Fair in 2023. "But when you're living in them, it's just your life and your family. You just remember the love, and I had real love for Michael."

She also recalled memories of Jackson going out of his way to get a teddy bear for her, a move which closed a toy store to accommodate him: "I think he really got a kick out of being able to make people happy, in the most epic way possible, which I think he and my grandfather had in common." Keough pointed out that she was at Jackson's Neverland ranch more than she was at her grandfather's Memphis mansion, Graceland. "That was a real home, whereas Graceland was a museum in my lifetime," she said.

Keough and her mother worked on "From Here to the Great Unknown" together. Keough took the reins of Presley's bombshell book following her death in 2023. The "Under the Bridge" actor said on her 2024 "Today with Hoda & Jenna" appearance that despite the circumstances of her famous mother's life, the human element of Presley's story was what's important. Keough added, "She wanted to share her story ... with the hopes that people would connect and not feel as alone."