Riley Keough Reveals the Sweet Nickname Her Mom Lisa Marie Presley Gave Her Daughter Tupelo, 2 (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Riley Keough and Lisa Marie Presley in 2017.Photo:WWD/Penske Media via Getty

WWD/Penske Media via Getty

Lisa Marie Presleyhad an adorable nickname for her2-year-old granddaughter Tupelo.

In an exclusive excerpt of the late star’sposthumous memoir,From Here to the Great Unknown, featured in this week’s PEOPLE cover story, Lisa Marie’s daughterRiley Keough, Tupelo’s mom, reveals that Lisa Marie “would call Tupelo our little light.”

The news of Tupelo’s birth was first revealed during Lisa Marie’s memorial service at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., in January 2023, shortly after shedied at age 54from a small-bowel obstruction that developed following her bariatric surgery several years prior.

Riley, 35, had her husband, stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen, read the tribute she had written to her mom on stage, in which she said, “I hope I can love my daughter the way you loved me, the way you loved my brother and my sisters.” A rep for Riley later confirmed that theDaisy Jones & the Sixactress and her husband had indeed welcomed their daughter in 2022.

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Riley Keough and Lisa Marie Presley ca. 1995.

To finishFrom Here to the Great Unknown, Riley listened to tapes of memories her mother had recorded.

“The tapes are an incredible portrait of the force of nature that she was,” Riley tells PEOPLE in an email interview. “Depending on the day and her mood, she can sound locked-in or distracted, vulnerable and open or annoyed and closed off, hopeful, angry, everything. You hear her in all her complications.”

Riley Keough and Lisa Marie Presley in 1999.Karen Dvorak

Karen Dvorak

As Riley readies for public attention to once again turn toward her mother’s story, she’s also looking ahead to the day that Tupelo can read it.

“This is one of the biggest privileges of the whole thing,” she says. “Not everyone has a book to read about their grandparents. That’s unique to our family. And it’s really a gift.”

For more on Riley Keough finishing her mom Lisa Marie Presley’s powerful memoir, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.

source: people.com