The forthcoming posthumous memoir by Lisa Marie Presley reveals that she kept the body of her late son, Benjamin Keough, at her home for two months following his suicide in July 2020.
Benjamin, the grandson of Elvis Presley, was 27 at the time of his death. In an attempt to cope with her profound grief, Presley decided to keep his body preserved on dry ice in a separate casita at her residence in Calabasas, California. Presley wrote in her memoir, “From Here to the Great Unknown,” that California law doesn’t mandate immediate burial, granting her the time she required to bid her son farewell.
With the assistance of a sympathetic funeral home owner, Benjamin’s remains were brought and kept at Presley’s residence. She preserved his body by maintaining the room’s temperature at about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Although Presley understood that her choice could be considered unusual, she believed it was crucial for her healing journey.
“I got so used to him being there,” Presley recounted in her memoir. “I think it would scare the living [expletive] out of anybody else, but I was grateful to have the opportunity to spend time with him.”
In a tribute to Benjamin during this period, Presley and her daughter, Riley Keough, got matching tattoos. They invited the tattoo artist to their home to examine Benjamin’s tattoos for reference. “We wanted to get something that was meaningful,” Riley stated.
Presley faced a difficult decision regarding her son’s final resting place, contemplating between Hawaii and Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, where her father, Elvis Presley, is interred. Benjamin was eventually buried at Graceland, marking the first burial at the estate in four decades.
The memoir also explores Presley’s battle with grief and addiction after her son’s death. Riley Keough shared that Benjamin’s death “destroyed” her mother. “She was completely heartbroken, but she stayed sober for him,” Riley wrote.
Lisa Marie Presley passed away on January 12, 2023 at the age of 54 due to complications from a previous weight loss surgery, as confirmed by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. She was buried next to Benjamin in Graceland’s Meditation Garden.
The task of completing Presley’s memoir after her death fell on Riley Keough. She used recordings of Presley’s recollections, which included memories of life at Graceland, her relationship with her parents, and her marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.
The memoir seeks to provide a glimpse into Presley’s life experiences, including love, loss, and resilience. It also emphasizes the significance of open discussions about mental health and addiction.