Riley Keough's Parents: All About Her Relationship with Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough

Riley Keough had a close relationship with her mother Lisa Marie Presley until her death in 2023

Riley Keough may not have had a typical upbringing as the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough — but for her, she simply “remembers the love.”

The Daisy Jones & The Six actress was raised by her parents, who first met in 1985. After several years of dating, the couple got married in 1988 and Riley was born less than a year later.

Lisa Marie and Danny’s marriage was short-lived with the couple divorcing in 1994, two years after welcoming son Benjamin Keough. Despite their split, they remained friends and co-parented their children, raising them between California, Hawaii and Florida.

As the years went on, Lisa Marie had several high-profile relationships, including a brief marriage to Michael Jackson — during which Riley spent time at the Neverland Ranch. To outsiders, her childhood may have seemed tumultuous but Riley says she always felt love.

“My whole childhood was probably very extreme. In hindsight, I can see how crazy these things would be to somebody from the outside. But when you’re living in them, it’s just your life and your family,” Riley shared in a 2023 interview with Vanity Fair.

Into adulthood, Riley has remained close with her parents, leading up to Lisa Marie’s death. While her passing was unexpected, Riley says she has fond memories of their time together.

"She was really one of a kind,” Riley added. “She was a very powerful presence and extremely loving and extremely loyal and sort of a lioness — a fierce woman, and a really wonderful mother. I think that would be my summary because I’m her daughter. She was the best mom.”

In January 2024, Riley announced that she had been working on preparing Lisa Marie's autobiography for posthumous publication. The book is set to be released on Oct. 15, 2024.

“Few people had the opportunity to know who my mom really was, other than being Elvis’s daughter,” Riley said in a statement from Random House. “I was lucky to have had that opportunity and working on preparing her autobiography for publication has been a privilege, albeit a bittersweet one.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Riley Keough’s parents, Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough.

Lisa Marie and Danny welcomed two children together

Lisa Marie and Danny met in 1985, and after three years of dating, the pair quietly tied the knot on Oct. 3, 1988.

“I am thrilled for Lisa Marie. Danny is a great guy, and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them,” Lisa Marie’s mother Priscilla Presley said in a statement at the time.

A few days after their wedding, the couple announced they were expecting their first child. Danielle Riley Keough was born on May 29, 1989. Lisa Marie and Danny welcomed their second child, Benjamin Storm Presley Keough, three years later, on Oct. 21, 1992.

Lisa Marie and Danny remained incredibly close following their divorce

After nearly six years, Lisa Marie and Danny divorced in May 1994. Looking back, Lisa Marie said that the couple’s age played a factor in their split, as well as their different lifestyles. She was 20 years old when she exchanged wedding vows with Danny, who was 24.

“I had been really sheltered. I got married the first time very, very young," Lisa Marie told Marie Claire in 2007. "And the marriage I was in, there was so much resentment about who I was, because I had more than he did, and it became a power struggle. It is hard for a man to be with a woman who is stronger, wealthier."

Although they broke up, Lisa Marie and Danny remained close friends as they worked to co-parent their children. Danny even played bass in Lisa Marie’s band, and she told PEOPLE in 2005 that their relationship was “like brother and sister.”

“Ultimately this is a good message to send out to people: You don't have to put your crap on your kids even if you are not together. You can still be civilized," she said. "I knew at the age that I had the kids with him that Danny was someone I could be connected with for the rest of my life. I knew he would be a good father."

Riley had different experiences living with her mom and her dad

Growing up, Riley split her time between Lisa Marie and Danny after their divorce, living in California, Florida and Hawaii. She even spent some of her childhood living at Neverland Ranch with Lisa Marie and her then-husband Jackson.

Looking back, Riley explained that she had a “very privileged” upbringing with her mother but had a different experience with her father because he “didn’t live like that.”

“I think experiencing both sides has been helpful. My father had mattresses on the floor of his apartments. He lived in cabins and trailer parks. He just didn't have much money,” Riley told The Guardian in 2017.

She continued, “My memories of growing up with him were so colorful and eccentric and fun. It was a good vibe."

Riley made her red carpet debut alongside her mom

As a kid, Riley accompanied Lisa Marie to many Hollywood events. She made her red carpet debut alongside her mother in 2002 when they attended the premiere of Lilo & Stitch. Through the years, the mother-daughter duo stepped out at numerous other events, like Elle's Women in Hollywood and fashion week.

Lisa Marie wanted Riley to grow up to be her own person

Despite growing up in a famous family, Lisa Marie wanted Riley to have the opportunity to shine on her own. She tried to keep her out of the Hollywood limelight for as long as possible, and when Riley put her focus on entertainment, Lisa Marie said that she didn’t want her daughter to have “that shadow where she felt competition and intimidated by anything.”

During an appearance on The Oprah Show in 2007, Lisa Marie expressed wanting her children to “be able to do what they wanted to do.”

“She was like, ‘I don’t want you growing up like another Hollywood celebrity daughter.’ She was so not about that life ... She didn’t really put attention on it," Riley later told Nylon in 2016. "We’d get photographed doing stuff, but I didn’t see a tabloid until I was 15."

Riley decide to follow in her family’s footsteps in Hollywood

When she was a teenager, Riley decided she wanted to follow in her family’s footsteps with a career in the arts. While becoming a singer may have seemed like a natural choice for the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, Riley says music wasn’t her passion, and she favored acting.

“I played piano but I’m not particularly gifted. Movies felt endless to me, whereas music I could see myself getting bored of,” she shared with The Guardian. “I know people say like, ‘Oh I saw Alfred Hitchcock, or Citizen Kane’ but, for me, it was The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys with Emile Hirsch. And Moulin Rouge."

"I was 12 and I was like, ‘Wow, I want to be Nicole Kidman, she made me feel so sad!’ I remember thinking how fulfilling it would be to do that, which is a big concept for a kid," she added.

Riley began modeling and started making movies with her friends. She eventually dropped out of high school to pursue her career, a decision that her mom supported. Although she now admits she regrets leaving school, she says her parents felt they couldn’t talk her out of it because she booked her first audition so quickly.

“My father really cared about my education. My mom was like, ‘You’re an artist. Go be an artist,’ ” Riley told Vanity Fair.

Riley credits her family for helping her family get her start in acting

When Riley began pursuing acting full-time, she says her mother warned her that she would have to work hard or risk not being “taken seriously” because of her family name. But coming from the Presley clan ended up being an incredible advantage, of which Riley is aware.

“It’s been a huge help,” she told The Guardian. “I’m very privileged. Like the normal story of moving to LA and it takes you three years to find an agent? I got one in a week.”

Lisa Marie was incredibly protective of Riley and her other children

In 2014, Lisa Marie opened up about her life with her children, calling her family “just very normal” despite their fame. Lisa Marie explained that she was “very close” with Riley and her other three children and considered them best friends. (Lisa Marie and her ex-husband, music producer Michael Lockwood, welcomed twin daughters, Harper and Finley Lockwood, in 2008.)

While she admitted it was a “constant struggle and juggle” to keep everyone close with such hectic schedules, she made an effort to make sure they could be in the same place at the same time.

“We all stay together. We are all very close. Wherever I am, they have their rooms and live with me. We all try to stay close as much as possible. Like, in the same room, preferably for me. I don’t like it when they are far away in any way,” Lisa Marie told Healthy Living Magazine.

She continued, “I am very protective. I just smother them in love and I am also ferociously protective. They are my priority. That’s what I do. That’s what I care most about. I keep them close to me and make sure they are happy and healthy."

Riley considers Lisa Marie one of her biggest inspirations

While reflecting on her adolescence, Riley shared that her mother was one of the biggest influences in her life. She called her mother “a very strong, smart woman."

“My mother is certainly an inspiration to me,” Riley told PEOPLE in 2022. “I was raised by somebody who did their own thing and didn't really care what other people thought. She was definitely inspirational to me.”

Riley moved in with Lisa Marie after the death of her brother Benjamin

In 2020, Riley’s brother Benjamin died by suicide amid a struggle with mental health, which was “beyond devastating” to Lisa Marie and the family. In a statement, a rep told PEOPLE that Lisa Marie was “completely heartbroken” and “inconsolable” but was trying to stay strong for her children.

In the wake of his death, Riley moved in with her mother for six months, telling Vanity Fair that Lisa Marie wanted her by her side constantly. Afterward, she would return to her mother’s house “two or three times a week” as the family grieved. She noted that if it had been up to Lisa Marie, Riley would have “lived there full-time.”

In a touching essay two years after Benjamin’s passing, Lisa Marie reflected on how his death had affected their family in the hopes of helping others who were going through the same thing.

“My and my three daughters’ lives as we knew it were completely detonated and destroyed by his death. We live in this every. Single. Day,” Lisa Marie wrote in an essay for PEOPLE. “I’m saying all this, on this particular day, ‘National Grief Awareness Day,’ in the hopes that I can help raise some awareness of grief and loss."

She continued, "I’m saying this ... in the hopes that maybe today or as soon as possible, you can reach out to someone who is grieving someone they loved and lost."

She spent time with her mother just days before her passing

In January 2023, Lisa Marie died after suffering cardiac arrest stemming from a “small bowel obstruction caused by scar tissue” from a prior bariatric surgery. Her unexpected death shocked her family, especially as many had seen her only a few days before.

The Sunday before her passing, Riley had spent time with her mother at a celebration of Elvis’ birthday at Formosa Café in West Hollywood. The mother-daughter duo even took a picture together while sitting side by side in a booth at the restaurant, captured by Riley’s friend Georgie Flores.

“I feel blessed to have a photo of the last time I saw my beautiful mama,” Riley wrote on Instagram.

Riley honored her mother at her funeral

When Lisa Marie was honored with a memorial service at Graceland following her death, Riley penned an emotional speech paying tribute to her. Although she was too overcome with grief to deliver the speech, her husband Ben Smith-Petersen spoke on her behalf.

“I’m eternally grateful to have spent 33 years with you. I’m certain I chose the best mother for me in this world ... Thank you for showing me love is the only thing that matters in this life. I hope I can love my daughter the way you loved me, the way you loved my brother and my sisters," Smith-Petersen said onstage as his wife sat in the front row.

"I'm a product of your heart. I hope you finally know how loved you were here. Thank you for trying so hard for us,” he concluded. “If I didn't tell you every day, thank you.”

Riley became the sole trustee of her mom’s estate after her death

Following her mother's death, Riley found herself in a legal dispute with her grandmother, Priscilla, over control of Lisa Marie’s estate. Priscilla initially filed a petition contesting the “authenticity and validity” of a 2016 amendment to Lisa Marie’s living trust removed her and former business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees.

Instead, it put Riley and her brother Benjamin in control of the trust, including the Graceland mansion and a 15 percent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Riley and Priscilla’s legal counsel debated over several months until they settled in May 2023. They then submitted a settlement request, and in August, Riley was officially named the sole trustee of her mother’s estate and the sub-trusts for her twin sisters, Harper and Finley. Meanwhile, Priscilla was named the trustee of the sub-trust of her son Navarone Garibaldi.

“When my mom passed, there was a lot of chaos in every aspect of our lives. Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us," Riley told Vanity Fair. "Everyone was in a bit of a panic to understand how we move forward, and it just took a minute to understand the details of the situation, because it’s complicated."

She continued, “We are a family, but there’s also a huge business side of our family. So I think that there was clarity that needed to be had.”

Riley is still close with her father Danny

While Danny now lives a more private life, he was recently spotted spending time with Riley in Los Angeles, per Daily Mail. In May 2023, the father-daughter duo were photographed while leaving an Erewhon supermarket in Calabasas.

Riley is releasing Lisa Marie's autobiography in late 2024

In January 2024, Riley announced that she would be publishing her mother's autobiography in October of that year.

“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,” she said in a statement from Random House.

Riley will also be narrating the audiobook of the untitled memoir.

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