Lisa Marie Presley and Benjamin Keough in 2015.MJT/AdMedia/MediaPunch/IPX/AP
Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of the iconic Elvis Presley, revealed in her memoir, “From Here to the Great Unknown,” that she kept the body of her late son, Benjamin Keough, in her home for two months after his tragic death. The memoir, which was completed by her daughter Riley Keough, details the painful yet intimate way Lisa chose to grieve the loss of her only son.
Benjamin Keough died by suicide in July 2020 at the age of 27, leaving his family devastated. According to the memoir, Presley made the decision to keep his body at their residence for an extended period, as she struggled to come to terms with his death. Riley Keough shares that her mother believed having Benjamin in the home allowed her to properly say goodbye, echoing the way she had grieved her own father, Elvis Presley, who died when Lisa was just nine years old.
In the book, Presley explained how she was able to keep her son with her at home, detailing the practicalities of the arrangement. She mentioned that the state of California has no laws requiring immediate burial, giving her the opportunity to have her son’s body brought back home. With the assistance of a compassionate funeral home owner, she placed Benjamin’s body in a separate room within the house, where it was maintained on dry ice. Presley shared that the room had to be kept at a steady temperature of 55 degrees to preserve the body.
For Presley, this unconventional way of grieving allowed her more time to cope with the loss. She explained that it was important for her to continue to “parent” Benjamin, even after his death, by delaying the burial. This extended goodbye helped her process the reality of laying him to rest. The memoir recounts how Presley would often sit in the room with Benjamin, talking to him and finding solace in his presence. It became a deeply personal and sacred part of her grieving process.
Presley’s decision to keep Benjamin’s body at home echoed the way she had handled her father’s death in 1977. When Elvis Presley passed away at the age of 42 from an apparent heart attack, young Lisa Marie spent significant time with his body at Graceland before his burial. This, she felt, had been a crucial part of her mourning, and she wished to offer the same respect and love to her son.
In the memoir, Riley Keough wrote about the challenge of finishing the book, as it required listening to tapes her mother had recorded before her own death in January 2023. Lisa Marie Presley passed away at the age of 54 due to complications from weight loss surgery. For Riley, hearing her mother’s voice and reliving her grief through the tapes was an incredibly painful experience, but she knew how important it was to complete her mother’s work.
Both Lisa Marie Presley and Benjamin Keough are now buried at Graceland, the Presley family’s historic estate in Memphis, Tennessee, where Elvis Presley is also interred. Their graves lie alongside each other in the Meditation Garden, a place of great significance for the family.
The memoir reveals a deeply human side of Lisa Marie Presley, who not only faced the immense pressure of being Elvis’s daughter but also endured unimaginable personal losses. Her decision to keep her son’s body at home may seem unusual to some, but it highlights the profound grief that accompanies the loss of a child and the ways in which individuals navigate that pain. Lisa Marie Presley’s story is a poignant reminder of the complexities of mourning and the deep bond between a mother and her child.
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