Lisa Marie Presley’s posthumous memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, peels back the curtain on the unimaginable grief she faced after losing her son, Benjamin Keough.
When tragedy struck in 2020, Lisa Marie made some jaw-dropping choices that might leave you feeling equal parts heartbroken and completely bewildered.
Lisa Marie’s son, Benjamin, died by suicide at just 27.
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Losing a child is something no parent should ever have to endure, and she found herself grappling with grief in arguably strange and unconventional ways. One of the ways, in particular, is one that helped her grieve the loss of her father, Elvis Presley, when she was just nine years old.
Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, revealed how vital it was for her mom to take her time with this goodbye to Benjamin.
Embed from Getty Images“It was really important for her to have ample time to say goodbye to him, the same way she’d done with her dad,” she said.
But what came next is where things take a turn.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs the family was weighing their options for Benjamin’s final resting place — Graceland or Hawaii — Lisa Marie was still trying to come to terms with the reality of her son’s death. “That was part of why it took so long,” she wrote in her memoir.
In a touching moment that would warm anyone’s heart, Riley placed her brother’s favorite yellow Nikes in his casket during his funeral in Malibu.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut before that heartfelt farewell, Lisa Marie made a shocking choice that would leave most of us absolutely speechless.
Lisa Marie kept Benjamin’s body on dry ice for two months in a separate bedroom of their Los Angeles home.
Embed from Getty ImagesYes, you heard that right!
She maintained a temperature of 55 degrees, determined to hold on to her son just a little longer. “There is no law in the state of California that you have to bury someone immediately,” she noted.
She explained her determination to remain a parent to Benjamin, even in death.
Embed from Getty Images“I got so used to him, caring for him and keeping him there. I think it would scare the living f—ing piss out of anybody else to have their son there like that. But not me,” Lisa Marie reflected.
Riley also chimed in about this extraordinary experience.
Embed from Getty ImagesShe and her mom decided to get matching tattoos in Benjamin’s honor. Since he had their names inked on his body, they figured it was only fitting to do the same. Riley said, “I’ve had an extremely absurd life, but this moment is in the top five.”
And to make it even more surreal, the tattoo artist came into the room with Benjamin’s body to ensure the tattoos were just right.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut as days turned into weeks, the vibe shifted. Both women felt a sense that Benjamin didn’t want to linger in their home any longer. “We all got this vibe from my brother that he didn’t want his body in this house anymore,” Riley recalled.
Lisa Marie said she even felt him saying, “This is insane, Mom, what are you doing? What the f—!”
Embed from Getty ImagesYou can’t make this stuff up.
Eventually, Lisa Marie chose to bury Benjamin at Graceland, a final resting place alongside his grandfather.
Three years later, tragedy struck again when Lisa Marie passed away at 54.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut before she left us, she made sure to finish her memoir, turning her story into a powerful reflection of love, loss, and the complexities of grief.
Her daughter, Riley promised to help complete the memoir, making sure her mother’s voice would continue to resonate with the world.
“What she wanted to do in her memoir…is to go beneath the magazine headline idea of her and reveal the core of who she was,” Riley said.
Embed from Getty ImagesA gentle reminder that behind the glitz and glamour, Lisa Marie was a fiercely loving mother in life and death.
