Annie Walton Doyle
Lisa Marie Presley kept her son’s body at her home for two months following his passing.
In a heartbreaking revelation, new details have emerged about Lisa Marie Presley’s deep grief following the tragic death of her son, Benjamin Keough.
Struggling to cope with the sudden loss, Lisa Marie reportedly kept Benjamin’s body at home for two months after his passing in 2020.
As the daughter of music legend Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie’s life has often been touched by sorrow, but the overwhelming grief from Benjamin’s death by suicide plunged her into a profound period of mourning.
Benjamin Keough, the eldest son of Lisa Marie and Danny Keough, passed away on July 12, 2020, at the age of 27. The cause of death was determined to be suicide by a gunshot wound.
Benjamin’s passing was a devastating loss for his family and friends, particularly for his mother, who had previously lost her twin brother, Benjamin Storm, at birth.
Lisa Marie had also struggled with addiction and mental health issues throughout her life, making Benjamin’s death an even more heartbreaking tragedy.
Benjamin was a talented musician and songwriter, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Elvis Presley.
He had signed a record deal with Universal Music Group and had released several singles.
His death was a significant loss for the music industry, as many believed he had a promising future ahead of him.
The circumstances surrounding Benjamin’s death were shrouded in privacy, and many details remain unknown.
However, it has been reported that he was found dead at his home in Calabasas, California.
Lisa Marie expressed her deep grief and sorrow following her son’s death.
She shared a heartfelt statement on social media, expressing her love for Benjamin and her hope that he would find peace.
Lisa Marie, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, tragically died in January 2023, at 54 year old.
In an interview with People, her daughter, Riley Keough, expressed that her mother’s death was the result of a ‘broken heart’ after Benjamin’s passing.
Though the official cause was ruled as natural, due to a small bowel obstruction that led to cardiac arrest, Riley said: “My mom tried her best to find strength for me and my younger sisters after Ben died, but we knew how much pain she was in.”
She added: “My mom physically died from the after-effects of her surgery, but we all knew she died of a broken heart.”
Riley completed the memoir ‘From Here to the Great Unknown,’ and this posthumous writing reveals the depth of Lisa Marie’s grief after her son Benjamin passed away.
One chapter details how Riley and her mother chose to honor Benjamin by getting matching tattoos that mirrored the ones he had with their names.
Benjamin had his sister’s name inscribed on his collarbone and his mother’s on his hand.
Lisa Marie asked a tattoo artist to examine Benjamin’s body so that he could replicate the font and placement.
Riley recalled: “Lisa Marie Presley had just asked this poor man to look at the body of her dead son, which happened to be right next to us in the casitas.”
She further reflected: “I’ve had an extremely absurd life, but this moment is in the top five.”
Shortly after they received their tattoos, Riley mentioned that everyone started to feel Benjamin’s presence, indicating he was ready to be laid to rest.
“Even my mom said that she could feel him talking to her, saying, ‘This is insane, mom, what are you doing? What the f***!’” she wrote.
Benjamin’s funeral took place in Malibu, led by Indian-American author Deepak Chopra, and he was eventually buried at Graceland beside his grandfather, Elvis.
After Lisa Marie’s death, she was buried next to her son.
In another chapter, Lisa Marie reveals that she was so devastated by Benjamin’s death that she kept his body in her home for two months, struggling with the decision of where to bury him.
She wrote: “There is no law in the state of California that you have to bury someone immediately,” explaining that she kept Benjamin in the bedroom of a casita, a small building separate from the main house. “
I found a very empathetic funeral home owner… She said, ‘We’ll bring Ben Ben to you.’”
“That was part of why it took so long,” she explains. “I got so used to him, caring for him and keeping him there. I think it would scare the living f***ing p*** out of anybody else to have their son there like that. But not me.”
“I felt so fortunate that there was a way that I could still parent him, delay it a bit longer so that I could become okay with laying him to rest,” she adds.
“My mom had my brother in the house with us instead of keeping him at the morgue,” Riley wrote. “They told us that if we could tend to the body, we could have him at home, so she kept him in our house for a while on dry ice.”
Lisa Marie wrote: “I think it would scare the living p*** out of anybody else to have their son there like that. But not me.”
Riley continued: “It was really important for my mom to have ample time to say goodbye to him, the same way she’d done with her dad. And I would go and sit in there with him.”
Elvis Presley’s open casket also remained at Graceland for two days before his burial.
“Having my dad at home after his death was really comforting. I could visit him, talk to him, and spend time with him,” Lisa Marie wrote. Riley later explained that this experience influenced her mother’s decision to keep Ben’s body at home.
“She didn’t want his body to be somewhere where people could mess with it,” Riley has since explained to People.
“We come from a family that’s pretty high profile, so I think she ultimately just felt like she wanted to be in control of the situation.”
“If my mom were here, she’d be like, ‘Yeah, whatever. I don’t care. If people think that’s crazy, they can go f*** themselves,” she laughs.
‘From Here to the Great Unknown’ by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough is available to purchase now wherever books are sold.
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