Riley Keough says she’s been receiving ‘signs’ from her late mother, Lisa Marie Presley — a spiritual connection that’s brought her comfort through tragedy and a storm of family drama.
Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, died suddenly age 54 in January 2023 from a small bowel obstruction caused by complications from bariatric surgery.
She left behind three children — daughter Riley, 36, whom she shared with ex-husband Danny Keough, and 17-year-old twins Harper and Finley with ex-husband Michael Lockwood — as well as the memory of her late son Benjamin, who died by suicide in 2020 at age 27.
In the wake of her death, a bitter legal battle erupted between Riley and her grandmother Priscilla over control of Lisa Marie’s estate.
Though the dispute was eventually settled, Priscilla has since become entangled in a financial feud with former advisers — one that’s turned ugly, with an explosive allegation that she prematurely ‘pulled the plug’ on her daughter.
Now, as she releases the paperback edition of her memoir From Here to the Great Unknown, Riley says her mother has made her presence known.
Riley Keough says she’s been receiving ‘signs’ from her late mother, Lisa Marie Presley — a spiritual connection that’s brought her comfort through tragedy and a storm of family drama; (Riley and Lisa Marie in June 2022)
Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley , died suddenly age 54 in January 2023 from a small bowel obstruction caused by complications from bariatric surgery; (pictured 2017)
‘I think if you’re open to those things, they’re kind of everywhere,’ she told People on Tuesday. ‘I really do believe that.’
‘So, I certainly feel connected to whatever that world may be. I do feel connected to it, yeah. There are certainly moments that are very… too weird to not be something,’ she added.
Though she didn’t elaborate on those eerie moments, Riley reveals she’ll explore them in a new ‘heartfelt afterword’ included in the updated version of her memoir, out Nov. 11.
That otherworldly connection isn’t new for Riley — she’s previously said she somehow knew her mother had died before she was officially told.
‘I just had a feeling. I don’t know,’ the Daisy Jones and The Six star told Drew Barrymore in October 2024. ‘There had been incidents before, you know, health incidents and I didn’t have the same feeling.’
She continued: ‘I felt this sort of surrender in the moment and I just had a little bit of a sense.’
Although Presley’s autopsy later revealed she died from a ‘small bowel obstruction’ caused by complications from bariatric surgery, Keough previously said she believes her mother’s real cause of death was heartbreak.
Keough told People in 2024 that her mother really died from a broken heart, after her brother brother Benjamin died by suicide.
As Riley releases the paperback edition of her memoir From Here to the Great Unknown, Riley says her mother has made her presence known
‘I think if you’re open to those things, they’re kind of everywhere,’ she told People on Tuesday. adding, ‘I really do believe that;’ (Danny Keough and Lisa Marie with Riley and Benjamin)
‘So, I certainly feel connected to whatever that world may be. I do feel connected to it, yeah. There are certainly moments that are very… too weird to not be something,’ she added; (Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, and Riley Keough attend the Handprint Ceremony honoring Three Generations of Presley’s at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 21, 2022)
‘My mom tried her best to find strength for me and my younger sisters after Ben died, but we knew how much pain she was in,’ Keough said at the time.
‘My mom physically died from the after effects of her surgery, but we all knew she died of a broken heart,’ she said.
In 2022, Lisa Marie admitted that she would never ‘move on’ from her son’s death, with Riley revealing in her memoir that Lisa Marie and her started to move on by helping others.
‘One kid wrote to Riley and said, “I didn’t kill myself last night because of what you said it would do to my family and those that are left behind. So thank you.” That helped me. That brought me up,’ Lisa Marie wrote in the memoir.
Riley added that the 2016 Nick Cave documentary One More Time With Feeling also helped immensely, calling it, ‘a really beautiful portrayal of grief.’
Benjamin died in July 2020, following an argument with his girlfriend at the family’s mansion.
An autopsy later revealed he had both cocaine and alcohol in his system.
According to reports, Benjamin had struggled with his mental health for years — he attempted to take his life six months earlier and had entered rehab multiple times, including a three-week stay just four months before his death.
