'Raw, riveting' Lisa Marie Presley memoir due out in fall; book completed by Riley Keough

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A "raw, riveting" memoir that Lisa Marie Presley reportedly had been working on at the time of her death will be published Oct. 15 by Random House, the publisher announced Thursday.

Completed by Riley Keough, Presley's actress/filmmaker daughter, the as yet untitled memoir "will lift the veil on one of America's most storied families," according to Random House.

The contents of the book are unknown, but what Random House calls Presley's "tumultuous" life certainly was eventful enough for a provocative, thoughtful and revealing memoir.

Lisa Marie Presley before a rehearsal with her band at Third Encore Studios on May 5, 2012.
Lisa Marie Presley before a rehearsal with her band at Third Encore Studios on May 5, 2012.

In addition to being the daughter of the "King of Rock 'n' Roll," Lisa Marie Presley was married to pop superstar Michael Jackson and to Nicolas Cage; she pursued her own recording career, while befriending a wide range of celebrities; and she suffered significant family tragedies, as both a child and an adult (the death of her 42-year-old father in 1977 and the suicide of her 27-year-old son, Benjamin Keough, in 2020).

Random House no doubt anticipates a best-seller. States the publisher: "Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley was never truly understood . . . until now."

An audiobook version of the memoir also will be released, read by Riley Keough and including "never-before-heard recollections in Lisa Marie’s own voice," according to Random House.

The publisher's announcement came on almost the one-year anniversary of Presley's death.

The only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie died on Jan. 12, 2023, at age 54. According to the Los Angeles County coroner's report, Presley died of "small bowel obstruction" that resulted from complications from bariatric surgery, a procedure generally intended to help a patient manage weight-gain issues.

Lisa Marie Presley is now interred in the Meditation Garden at Graceland, near her father, her son, and other family members.

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According to Random House, Lisa Marie had been working on "a raw riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir for years." She recorded "countless hours of breathtakingly vulnerable tape, which has finally been put on the page by her daughter, Riley Keough."

Lisa Marie Presley poses for her first picture, safe in the lap of her mother, Priscilla, on Feb. 5, 1968, while proud father, Elvis Presley, beams his approval. The baby is the first and only child for Elvis and Priscilla.
Lisa Marie Presley poses for her first picture, safe in the lap of her mother, Priscilla, on Feb. 5, 1968, while proud father, Elvis Presley, beams his approval. The baby is the first and only child for Elvis and Priscilla.

In a statement released by Random House, Riley Keough said completing her mother's memoir was "a privilege, albeit a bittersweet one."

“Few people had the opportunity to know who my mom really was, other than being Elvis’s daughter,” Keough said. “I was lucky to have had that opportunity and working on preparing her autobiography for publication has been a privilege, albeit a bittersweet one. I’m so excited to share my mom now, at her most vulnerable and most honest, and in doing so, I do hope that readers come to love my mom as much as I did.”

Keough is now the sole owner of the Graceland estate and the lone trustee of the her mother's trust, which also provides income for Lisa Marie's twin 15-year-old daughters, Harper and Finley Lockwood. So far, she has proved a purposeful steward of the Presley legacy, co-producing "Christmas at Graceland," a holiday special featuring Post Malone, Lana Del Rey, Alanis Morissette and other performers, which aired Nov. 29 on NBC and paid occasional tribute to Lisa Marie.

August 10, 2018 - Lisa Marie Presley, right, and her daughter Riley Keough participate in a private ribbon-cutting event for the new exhibit "Lisa Marie: Growing Up Presley" at Elvis Presley's Memphis entertainment complex.
August 10, 2018 - Lisa Marie Presley, right, and her daughter Riley Keough participate in a private ribbon-cutting event for the new exhibit "Lisa Marie: Growing Up Presley" at Elvis Presley's Memphis entertainment complex.

Priscilla Presley also wrote a memoir, "Elvis and Me," which was a best-seller in 1985. The book was the basis for a 1988 television miniseries and for Sofia Coppola's theatrical biopic, "Priscilla," released to theaters in October. Lisa Marie Presley again made international news after the movie's release, when Variety printed a report on emails Presley sent to Coppola in 2022, calling the film's script “shockingly vengeful and contemptuous."

“My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative," Lisa Marie wrote. "As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father."

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Lisa Marie Presley memoir to be published; Riley Keough completed book