View gallery
Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, died on January 12, 2023, at the age of 54 after suffering cardiac arrest. Her passing came just days after she appeared on the red carpet at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards, where she praised Austin Butler’s award-winning portrayal of her father in Elvis.
While she will always be remembered as the daughter of the King of Rock and Roll, Lisa Marie was also a devoted mother. She welcomed four children over the course of her life: daughters Riley Keough and the late Benjamin Keough with her first husband, Danny Keough, and twin daughters Harper and Finley Lockwood with her fourth husband, Michael Lockwood.
In July 2020, Lisa’s only son Benjamin died by suicide at the age of 27, a loss she described as “shattering.” Following her own death in 2023, her daughters became the heirs to Graceland, Elvis’s iconic Memphis estate. At Lisa’s public memorial service, it was also revealed that Riley had quietly welcomed her first child with her husband, Ben Smith-Peterson, making Lisa Marie a grandmother shortly before her passing.
Read on to learn more about Lisa Marie Presley’s children.
Riley Keough
Riley Keough, born May 29, 1989, is Lisa Marie’s first child with Danny. She grew up in the spotlight but has built an impressive career of her own in both modeling and acting. Riley made her runway debut in 2004 for Dolce & Gabbana and transitioned to acting in 2010 with The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. She went on to earn acclaim for roles in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), American Honey (2016), and Logan Lucky (2017), and she also appeared in a 2018 episode of Riverdale.
In 2022, Riley expanded her career behind the camera, making her directorial debut with War Pony at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film won the Camera d’Or. “I’m very overwhelmed. I haven’t really taken it all in yet,” Riley told People at the time.
Riley has often spoken about growing up between two very different worlds with her parents. “I grew up very privileged with my mother. But my dad didn’t live like that,” she told The Guardian in 2017, recalling time spent in cabins and trailer parks with her father. She said the contrast gave her balance: “My memories of growing up with him were so colorful and eccentric and fun.”
Back in 2007, Riley and her mother appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and explained that Riley was encouraged to explore her own likes and dislikes in an effort to be her own person outside of the famous family. “I didn’t want her to have that shadow where she felt competition and intimidated by anything,” Lisa Marie said. “I wanted [my children] to be able to do what they wanted to do.”
After her brother Benjamin’s tragic death in 2020, Riley trained as a death doula, saying in a 2021 Instagram post that she wanted to help others prepare for and process loss. “I think it’s so important to be educated on conscious dying and death the way we educate ourselves on birth and conscious birthing,” she wrote. “We prepare ourselves so rigorously for the entrance and have no preparation for our exit. So I’m so grateful for this community and to be able to contribute what I can.”
In her personal life, Riley married Australian stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen in 2015. “My husband is such a good person,” wrote Riley in a 2022 essay for Vogue Australia. “He’s calm and loyal and strong and sensitive. He’s my best friend.” Together, they quietly welcomed their first child, a daughter, in 2022, a fact revealed during Lisa Marie’s memorial service when Ben read Riley’s tribute, which included a heartfelt note to her late mother. “I hope I can love my daughter the way you loved me, the way you loved my brother and my sisters.”
Benjamin Keough
Benjamin Storm Presley Keough, born October 21, 1992, was Lisa Marie’s only son and the grandson of Elvis Presley. Throughout his life, he was often compared to his legendary grandfather for his striking resemblance. “Ben does look so much like Elvis,” Lisa told CMT in 2012. “He was at the Opry and was the quiet storm behind the stage. Everybody turned around and looked when he was over there. Everybody was grabbing him for a photo because it is just uncanny.”
Unlike his sister Riley, Benjamin preferred to live out of the spotlight and kept a very low profile. He occasionally pursued music but struggled with the immense pressure of being part of the Presley family. Following his death by suicide in July 2020 at age 27, close friend Brandon Howard spoke to People about Benjamin’s private life, explaining that he sometimes struggled with depression, especially during the isolation of the pandemic. “It’s almost like you’re pressured into having to be a musician, having to be an actor… It was good for him to go around the world and discover himself and have his own friends,” his friend shared.
Friends remembered Benjamin as loyal and deeply caring. “He would be the one who would come crash with you on the couch for weeks until you’re actually feeling better,” Brandon added.
Benjamin’s death left his family devastated. Riley has continued to post emotional tributes to her brother, and Lisa Marie herself opened up about her grief in a 2022 essay for National Grief Awareness Day. “I keep going for my girls,” she wrote of her three daughters at the time. “I keep going because my son made it very clear in his final moments that taking care of his little sisters and looking out for them were on the forefront of his concerns and his mind. He absolutely adored them and they him.”
Harper And Finley Lockwood
Harper Vivienne Ann and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood were born on October 7, 2008, to Lisa Marie and her then-husband Michael. The twins have largely been kept out of the public eye, though they made their red carpet debut in 2017 at the ELLE Women in Hollywood event alongside their mom.
Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley occasionally shared sweet glimpses of the girls growing up. In 2019, Priscilla told Us Weekly she was amazed by their intelligence, saying, “I can’t believe they are so smart [with technology]… They know how to Google already, they know how to draw things and characters… They’re just little girls experiencing life and having fun.” That same year, Priscilla revealed on TODAY that the twins were active kids who took ballet and opera classes.
After Lisa Marie’s death in January 2023, custody of Harper and Finley was awarded to their father. “The most important thing to me at this time is to take care of my daughters, making sure they always feel safe and loved,” Michael Lockwood said in a statement a week after Lisa’s death. “Both of them have incredible spirit and they will carry our family’s legacy on for the rest of their lives. Since they were born, Harper and Finley have brought me profound joy and I remain devoted to them.
In April 2023, a judge granted Michael full guardianship, which also gave him a role in representing the twins’ interests as part of ongoing matters related to their mother’s estate and Graceland.
