Inside Lisa Marie Presley's Relationship With Her Daughter Riley Keough
Lisa Marie Presley sadly died on January 12, with her mom, Priscilla Presley, confirming the 54-year-old's sudden passing. "It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us. She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known," Priscilla told People in a heartbreaking statement. "We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers." Lisa Marie passed away being rushed to the hospital following a cardiac arrest.
Lisa Marie was mom to four children: Riley Keough and Benjamin Keough — who tragically died in 2020 — from her first marriage to Danny Keough, and twins Finley and Harper Lockwood she shared with her fourth ex-husband, Michael Lockwood. Lisa Marie's children have yet to speak out about her death, though Riley in particular has spoken out a few times about what it was really like growing up with a rock 'n' roll mom. But what was their mother/daughter relationship really like?
Lisa Marie raised Riley out of the spotlight
Despite being one of the most famous families in the world — Lisa Marie Presley is the daughter of the Elvis Presley, after all — Riley Keough has admitted her mom made a point of not raising her in the spotlight. "She was like, 'I don't want you growing up like another Hollywood celebrity daughter.' She was so not about that life, you know? She didn't really put attention on it," Riley admitted to Nylon in 2016 (via Just Jared). "It was there. We'd get photographed doing stuff, but I didn't see a tabloid until I was 15."
And it sounds like the two remained very close throughout Lisa Marie's life. Speaking to People mere weeks before her mother's death, Riley — who's become a successful actor in her own right, appearing in the likes of "Magic Mike," "Mad Max: Fury Road," and "Daisy Jones & The Six" — shared how much she admired her mom. "My mother is certainly an inspiration to me," she said, calling Lisa Marie "a very strong, smart woman." Riley also touched on the way her mom raised her, telling the outlet, "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."
She loved being a mom
One of the things Lisa Marie Presley was most proud of in her life was being a mom. She opened up about becoming a mother to ABC News back in 2004, sweetly telling the outlet (via Elvis.com.au) "Everything's better when you have children." She spoke candidly about how close she was with all of her kids, noting, "Whatever they're experiencing you experience as well with them, over again, even if you're grown up, even if you're, no matter what's happening they're always there. They're there to ground you, you have to get out of yourself and everything becomes about them, and that's really good. Ah, everything's great."
Lisa Marie Presley also spoke about how she always tried to shield Riley Keough from the trappings that can sometimes come with being the daughter of a celebrity, "I didn't want her to have that shadow where she felt competition and intimidated by anything," Lisa Marie shared when she and Riley appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" together in 2007. "I wanted [my children] to be able to do what they wanted to do," she added.
It's no surprise then to hear Lisa Marie was always supportive of Riley's career, though the actress admitted she had some pretty stern advice from her being a child of privilege from an insanely famous family. "Whatever you do, you have to work really or you won't be taken seriously," Lisa Marie told Riley, as she revealed to The Guardian.
Lisa Marie spent the last several months of her life with Riley
Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough remained close right up to her death. The two spend the last few months of Lisa Marie's career together in the spotlight, with both teaming up to promote the 2022 movie "Elvis," in which Austin Butler played Lisa Marie's famous dad, Elvis Presley. The mother/daughter duo appeared close as could be as they did several interviews together, with Lisa Marie reminiscing about her late father and how the movie remembered his legacy. Elvis died in 1977, 12 years before Riley was born. "It was such an emotional [experience]. Like Riley said, it just brings up such generational trauma — in a good way," Lisa Marie explained during a joint interview on "Good Morning America" in June 2022. "And Riley, five minutes in, was already like, 'I'm done.' She was already crying and I was crying."
The Presley clan then came out in force for a premiere of the movie in Hollywood, with Lisa Marie, Priscilla Presley, Riley, and Finley and Harper Lockwood all posing for photos together on the red carpet. Riley also shared sweet photos from a premiere in Graceland on Instagram, proving just how close this iconic family really is.