Riley Keough Says Mom Lisa Marie Presley 'Died of a Broken Heart' After Son Benjamin’s Death (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Lisa Marie Presley with her kids Riley and Benjamin Keough and her brother Navarone Garibaldi.Photo: CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty

Riley Keoughis opening up about the deep toll grief took on her late momLisa Marie Presley.

“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,” says Riley, 35. “My mom physically died from the after effects of her surgery, but we all knew she died of a broken heart.”

Lisa Marie Presley and son Benjamin Keough in 2012.Copetti/Photofab/Shutterstock

Riley says she also found respite in Nick Cave’s 2016 documentary filmOne More Time with Feeling,  which she describes as “a really beautiful portrayal of grief.”

PEOPLE’s cover with Lisa Marie Presley.

To finishFrom Here to the Great Unknown, which she had promised Lisa Marie she’d help write prior to her death, Riley listened to taped memories her mom had recorded. Riley says her brother’s death “was incredibly difficult to write about, as was my mom’s descent into addiction.  And her own death, of course.“Riley makes it clear, though, that her mom’s story isn’t “only about grief.”

Riley Keough and mom Lisa Marie Presley in 1999.Karen Dvorak

Karen Dvorak

With the memoir, “I hope that in an extraordinary circumstance people relate to a very human experience of love, heartbreak, loss, addiction and family,” Riley says. “[My mom] wanted to write a book in the hopes that someone could read her story and relate to her, to know that they’re not alone in the world.”

“Her hope with this book was just human connection,” she continues. “So that’s mine.”

Lisa Marie Presley and daughter Riley Keough ca. 1995.

Riley will next discuss the book in anOprah Winfreyspecial airing on CBS and Paramount + on Oct. 8, the date of the book’s release.

source: people.com