Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir is as raw and honest as the life she lived, which was sadly cut short after surgery complications led to a small bowel obstruction in January 2023.
The mother of four, who passed away at just 54 years old, indirectly penned the book through her diaries and tapes; although she was unable to write it, her daughter, Riley Keogh, compiled the memories that she had recorded, and completed the work for her mom.
The memoir, titled “From Here to the Great Unknown”, was released on Tuesday, October 8, and explores Lisa Marie’s storied and often tragic life, including everything from her childhood to her son’s passing. Read on to discover the five biggest bombshells to come from the memoir.
1. Lisa Marie kept her son’s body inside her home after his death
When Lisa Marie’s son Benjamin passed away by suicide in July 2020, the grieving mother struggled to come to terms with his sudden loss. Benjamin, born in 1992, was the younger son of Lisa Marie and her ex-husband, Danny Keogh, and Riley’s younger brother by three years.
She wrote that Benjamin’s body was kept inside her home at a 55-degree temperature to preserve it. Riley believed that the decision meant her mom would have “ample time to say goodbye to him, the same way she’d done with her dad”.
Lisa Marie lost her dad, Elvis, at just nine years old and remained undecided about whether to lay him to rest in Graceland or Hawai’i; this meant she could spend time with his body and grieve in her own way.
For her part, the mother of four revealed, “I got so used to [Benjamin], caring for him and keeping him there. I think it would scare the living [expletive] out of anybody else to have their son there like that. But not me.”
2. Sexual abuse allegations against Priscilla’s ex-boyfriend
© Bryan SteffyPriscilla Presley dated actor Michael Edwards for a period when Lisa Marie was in her early teen years and alleged that he sexually abused her during this time, starting when she was just ten years old.
“He said he was going to teach me what was going to happen when I got older,” she wrote, recalling how Michael came to her room one night. “He was putting his hand on my chest and saying a man’s going to touch here, then he put his hand between my legs, and he said they’re going to touch you here.”
Lisa Marie remembered telling her mom what had happened, which had enraged Priscilla and prompted her to confront her boyfriend for his actions. His excuse? “In Europe, that’s how they teach the kids, so that’s what I was doing.”
She continued: “He’d say, ‘Oh, I was drunk’ or ‘She was actually flirting with me’,” she explained. “I was eleven, twelve, thirteen.”
3. Michael Jackson revealed he was a virgin when they met
© Michel DufourLisa Marie and Michael’s high-profile relationship led to their marriage in 1994; sadly, the couple divorced in 1996. She revealed in her book that Michael was still a virgin when they first got together.
“I think he had kissed Tatum O’Neal, and he’d had a thing with Brooke Shields, which hadn’t been physical apart from a kiss,” she said.
“He said Madonna had tried to hook up with him once, too, but nothing happened. I was terrified because I didn’t want to make the wrong move.”
She continued: “When he decided to first kiss me, he just did it. He was instigating everything. The physical stuff started happening, which I was shocked at. I had thought that maybe we wouldn’t do anything until we got married, but he said, ‘I’m not waiting!'”
4. Lisa Marie feared for Elvis’ life long before his death
© Michael Ochs ArchivesThe late singer recalled writing a poem in her diary, with the line “I hope my daddy doesn’t die”. She often saw her father in pain, like when she found him face down in the bathroom after a bad fall.
Lisa Marie remembered the fateful night that Elvis passed away when she was just nine years old. She kissed her dad and told her she loved him, while he told her to “go to bed”.
The next thing she remembers is her dad being wheeled away in an ambulance before receiving the tragic news of his passing.
“My life as I knew it was completely over,” she wrote. “He’s dead, and now I’m stuck with [Priscilla].”
5. Her battle with addiction
© Jon KopaloffLisa Marie battled with addiction her whole life, particularly before the birth of her twins, Harper and Finley, in 2008. She shared her girls with her husband, Michael Lockwood.
“My whole life had blown up; it felt like one thing after another, and I could not take any more beatings,” she wrote, revealing that she would take up to 80 pills a day at the height of her addiction.
Her son drove her all the way from Nashville to LA to get help from her doctors: “We drove because I wanted to do cocaine the whole time and couldn’t if I was on an airplane,” she explained.
“I didn’t think I could even get through airport security.” Riley added that her addiction led her to travel home to Graceland to sleep in Elvis’ old bed, as she was “desperate to feel protected, desperate to connect with her father.”
“It was the feeling of going to church when all is lost and saying, ‘Please, Jesus, help me’,” the actress said.
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