close
close

The rock legend's daughter kept her son's body at home for two months after his death

The rock legend's daughter kept her son's body at home for two months after his death

Lisa Marie Presley is back in the headlines this week for a story that's both heartbreaking and a little scary.

Before her death, Presley wrote a memoir titled “From Here to the Great Unknown,” which explores the hardships she endured. Although the book was completed posthumously by her eldest child, actress Riley Keough, after Presley's own death in 2023, it contains incredibly shocking details about the death of her son Benjamin Keough.

And the way his body was handled has raised some eyebrows.

In part of the memoir, Elvis Presley's only child, who was 54 at the time of her death, revealed that she struggled to stay alive for her children, including twin daughters Harper and Finley Lockwood, now 16 remain. But she also revealed she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye to her son after his death.

While she debated whether to bury her son in Hawaii or at Graceland – where Elvis is buried – she decided to keep his body at her home in Calabasas, California.

“My house has a separate casitas bedroom and I housed Ben there for two months,” Presley wrote.

“There is no law in the state of California that says you have to bury someone immediately. I found a very compassionate funeral director. I told her that having my father in the house after his death was incredibly helpful because I could spend time with him and talk to him. She said, 'We'll bring Ben Ben to you.' You can have him there.'”

Lisa Marie Presley was 9 years old when her father died.

The room where Benjamin Keough's body was stored was kept at 55 degrees to protect his corpse.

Riley Keough previously wrote that her brother was “on dry ice.”

Although Lisa Marie Presley admitted that it was strange having her son there, she also wrote: “But I got so used to him, took care of him and kept him there. I think it would scare the hell out of anyone else if their son was there like that. But not me.”

Lisa Marie Presley explained that the grieving process is usually rushed, but this way she was able to take her time.

“I was so happy that there was a way to still raise him and delay it a little longer so it was okay for me to lay him to rest,” she wrote.

During the intense period of mourning, Riley Keough wrote that she and her mother finally honored Benjamin Keough by getting matching tattoos with his name, just as he had their names inscribed on his body.

“We met with the artist in the small courtyard next to the casitas, and during the meeting my mother insisted that she wanted her tattoo exactly where my brother had his. The artist said it was possible but he needed to know the font and positioning. “Do you happen to have any photos?” she remembered him asking.

“'No…but I can show you,'” her mother told the artist.

“I looked at my mom and with my eyes I just said, 'Are you crazy?' You've never met this guy before. Don't put him in this room with my dead brother.'”

Despite what Riley Keough thought, Lisa Marie Presley still brought the artist into the room, where she even picked up her son's lifeless hand to show the tattoo artist exactly how she wanted her own tattoo.

“I've had an extremely absurd life, but this moment ranks in the top 5,” wrote Riley Keough.

“Soon after that, we all got a sense from my brother that he didn't want his body in this house anymore. “Guys,” he seemed to say, “this is getting weird.” Even my mom said she could feel him talking to her, “This is crazy mom, what are you doing?” What the (expletive)'”

Benjamin Keough was eventually buried at Graceland next to his famous grandfather. Lisa Marie Presley was later buried next to her son when she died.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *