Why Lisa Marie Presley Was Never The Same After Her Son's Tragic Death
The following article makes mention of suicide.
The world is in mourning over the tragic death of Elvis and Priscilla Presley's only child, Lisa Marie Presley, but the late singer-songwriter had already been in mourning of her own for quite some time.
Back in 2020, the world was left stunned when news broke that Lisa Marie's son, Benjamin Keough, had died. Per E! News, two days after his passing was confirmed, officials revealed that he had died by suicide. In a statement made to the outlet, a spokesperson for Lisa Marie revealed that she was "completely heartbroken, inconsolable, and beyond devastated." The spokesperson added that her remaining children — eldest daughter Riley Keough and then 11-year-old twin girls Finley and Harper Lockwood — were her motivation to try and hold everything together amidst the tragedy.
However, it's completely understandable that Lisa Marie would continue to be devastated by the loss of her child for the remainder of her life. In fact, when her late father's biopic, "Elvis," was released last year, she took to Instagram to share that she wished Benjamin had been able to see the film himself. "It breaks my heart ... he would have absolutely loved it," she mused.
In the very same post, she revealed a heartbreaking reminder that she never fully recovered from the loss and probably never would. "I am and will forever be mourning the loss of my son. Navigating through this hideous grief that absolutely destroyed and shattered my heart and my soul into almost nothing has swallowed me whole," she wrote.
Benjamin's death was unlike anything she'd ever experienced
In the immediate aftermath of Benjamin Keough's passing, Lisa Marie Presley's representative told E! News that "he was the love of her life." It was a comment she doubled down on in an essay on grief published by People in August 2022, roughly two years after his death.
In the essay, Lisa Marie pointed out that she was no stranger to tragedy. After all, she'd lost her father, Elvis Presley at the tender age of 9. As she revealed on her MySpace blog back in 2009, she would also go on to re-live that trauma as an adult, when her ex-husband Michael Jackson died. "I sit here ... watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (a sight I never wanted to see again)," she wrote (via Oprah.com). However, when it came to the death of her son, Lisa Marie admitted that it was simply more than she could bear.
As she shared in the People piece, "I've had more than anyone's fair share ... But this one, the death of my beautiful, beautiful son? The sweetest and most incredible being that I have ever had the privilege of knowing, who made me feel so honored every single day to be his mother? Who was so much like his grandfather on so many levels that he actually scared me ... No. Just no," the bereaved mother penned.
Lisa Marie revealed that she struggled to go on
Lisa Marie Presley's People piece also touched on another heartbreaking revelation: Choosing to 'go on' was something she'd needed to get intentional about.
"It's a real choice to keep going, one that I have to make every single day and one that is constantly challenging, to say the least," she admitted. Presley also explained that her only real motivation for anything in life was being there for her three surviving children, and that Benjamin Keough had played a major part in that.
"My son made it very clear in his final moments that taking care of his little sisters and looking out for them was on the forefront of his concerns and his mind," she explained. Sure enough, in her Instagram post applauding the "Elvis" biopic, she touched on that once again, writing: "Not much else aside from my other three children gets my time and attention anymore."
In the last few months of her life, Presley became more active on Instagram again, with many a post dedicated to her support for "Elvis." However, her last two posts reveal that even then, Keough's death remained top of mind. Her final post contained screenshots of her People essay on grief; the second last was a sweet picture of matching tattoos she'd gotten with Keough. "It's a Celtic eternity knot symbolizing that we will be connected eternally," she wrote.
We're keeping the family in our thoughts during this truly heartbreaking time.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).