Riley Keough
Appearances
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
It was like 2021 or something, or 2020 when she started saying like, trauma, I have trauma, you know, which was amazing, but like so late in her life.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
What's interesting is that I definitely as a child could perceive her grief, like I could feel her sadness. But it's such a, like you're saying, such a unique experience grief that I didn't truly understand her grief until I lost my brother as well. And then imagining... you know, a child, like a nine-year-old sort of having that experience and with a parent.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So it's a, I mean, very normal human things, but a unique circumstance. Sorry for your loss. Thank you.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
her mom? I've thought about this a lot when writing the book. And before my mom passed away, I didn't think about their relationship a lot. They've had a complicated relationship through my life, but we've all been fairly close. There was never a moment where anyone was estranged. Their dynamic was, there was always something my mom was wanting that she wasn't being given.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
But we still spent holidays together and weekends. So I didn't totally consider their relationship until after she passed and I was writing the book. And I think that my relationship with my grandmother, which I think is really common, is very different to hers with her mother. And I think that fundamentally, they were very different people. My grandmother...
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Really cared about appearance and manners and kind of old school kind of, you know, wanting everything the house to be perfect and and her priorities were sort of wanting things to present as perfect or, you know, and I think that a lot of that was from the pressure she probably experienced.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
being 14 years old and having to be, you know, the partner, soon partner of Elvis and this like sort of perfect woman in the 1960s, you know, which is really intense for her. So I think that she felt a lot of pressure to be this, the most beautiful woman in the world, the most perfect woman in the world and wanted to keep her
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
role as Elvis's partner essentially from 14 so I take that into consideration a lot I don't know if my mom did you know I think to her it was just her mom like I don't know if she would if she thought about that much and there's a sense feeling in her that's sort of like, I don't want the plates to fall in my grandmother. And I can see where that comes from.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I think when it's so close that it's your mom, you don't always give the grace there. Of course. But my mom was such a sort of like radical woman in the time she was born. And I think that she didn't care about the things you're supposed to care about as a female at the time.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And, and really was so unapologetically herself and, you know, not crass or anything, but just real, just authentically her, which to me is such a, like in hindsight, when I look back on the time period she grew up in, the way she was raised didn't, feel like that would be, you know, the sort of outcome of her personality.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So I think that she just was a, I don't know, the Elvis part of her, maybe like that she was kind of a big force for better or worse. And my grandmother is very sort of soft. And I think they definitely had a difficult time. And I think that when I watched it as an outsider, it always felt to me that my mom was looking for something that her mom wasn't able to to be or to give her.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I think it did. And I think, honestly, it scared the shit out of most people. And I think that she was so honest, like existed in so much honesty. that it was hard for people to sit with a lot of the time. Like, I remember being a kid and friends would come in and she wouldn't even do anything. And they'd be like, oh, your mom is scary, you know? And I'm like, why?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Like, she's this tiny little lady and she didn't even say it, you know? And I think it's just, there was no filter or kind of social pretense or anything. And I think that that presence would often frighten people, but there was no meanness. You know, it was just, uh, I don't know what, how, how did she keep that?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
That's what's so incredible to me about her is it was never nurtured. It wasn't something that people praised. She was always a problem. Any school, any situation, she was praised. being, you know, she was difficult. Um, and she never, ever dimmed that part of her, which I always found to be so inspiring about her. I'm not like that. I'm, I'm very, I'm like a dimmable chandelier.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I'm like, me too. If I walk in a room, I'm like, Oh, you know, shouldn't do that. Shouldn't be here. Um, but she just, you know, it was, it was a really incredible quality that I definitely think it's actually quite profound.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Well, I think that I just sort of perceived them that way. And I think that there was just this environment that was like, especially in the 90s, it was very like... My mom was... They were very like anti-establishment, kind of like very not wanting to follow the rules. Told me like I didn't have to go to school. You know, it was very like... kind of anarchy, you know, was the vibe in my house.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And both my parents were kind of, though my dad is actually very sensitive and quite soft. And so was my mom was extremely sensitive. She just, you know, was very at a strength to her that was sort of unshakable. My dad was more of a softer, though he was very sort of wild and charismatic and all these things. He was quite like sensitive and fragile.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I think that I got, and my brother as well, got more of that than my mom's sort of... That's not true. I think we both have had her strength as well, but... I think that he was, I definitely can see more of my demeanor in my father. But we always felt very close, the four of us. Like I didn't feel like I was different or anything.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I actually felt really quite similar to my brother and to my parents. But I think that as I got older and into my 20s, like when I was younger, we would all hang out or party together in my early 20s or do these things.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
get very drunk on the holidays like that was very normal but then into my later in my 20s it became you know my brother's drinking was it just there there was just something about it that just felt darker I would say yeah you know in in sort of my mid-20s and where it was like not like just a fun party night, you know?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I think in those moments, I sort of became more of like, took the role of like this sort of narc, I guess, like I was, you know? And then as their addictions progressed, I very much was like the one who People didn't tell things to, you know, which I was kind of OK with because in the moment I felt like I'm doing the right thing. I'm being responsible.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
But I would always get the feedback of like, you're not an addict. You don't understand, which I tried to take on a lot. But I think the way I felt was. If I don't do everything in my power to drag you out of there and do all these things and put you here, then I'm not going to be able to live with myself. So I have to.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And so I think a lot of my life and my 20s were spent resisting what was and enforcing things. And I kind of didn't understand the point of it. I was like, why am I in this life where everyone around me is just like, trying to take themselves out, essentially. And there's nothing I can do. Like, what is the lesson in that for me, you know? Which I still haven't figured out, but... Damn it.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I thought you were about to tell us. But what I do know is that I was forced to surrender because they died, you know? And I felt like I was... holding on for dear life or waiting to get punched in the face and doing everything I could to not have this thing happen. And then it happened twice, you know? And so the only thing I know is that by the time my mom was about to pass away in the hospital,
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I was really surrendered in that moment in a way that felt really liberating. And I truly felt like I was, you know, there's a moment where she was in the hospital and I didn't know if she was going to make it and I was on an airplane. And I kind of in my mind was saying, like, you know, do whatever you want to do. You can go if you need to go, kind of a thing.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
there was no part of me that was like, come on, you know, hold on, just hold on till I land, you know? And that was a big deal for me for, for how resistant I had been for so much of my, my life with these things. But it could be that, that I was, I don't know, had so much of that sort of lesson that I did get to a place where I did feel surrender in a pretty sort of
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And that's another thing I really saw clearly when writing the book and also having my own child. She totally, and my father too, my father, his dad left when he was two and he kind of left the house early and didn't have a really nurturing home. They both shared that experience.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And both of them were incredibly loving to the point where my brother and I would often talk about how lucky we were as adults. And so I don't know where that came from. You know, I don't know if she was born with that.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
instinct but it was so strong that I find myself going I hope that I can make my child feel like half as loved as my mother made us feel you know which considering where you know her her sort of story it is pretty incredible talk to us about the loss of Ben and what that did for you and her
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So I think the hardest thing about writing a book about real people is that you can't describe a full human on the page. And I would spend just hours going back and talking to my husband and my dad going like, how do I describe Ben? How do I describe my mom? And to me, and this is probably a very human experience, like they felt so unique and so special.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So I think there's like words that I use to describe him, you know, like he was so kind and sweet and sensitive and funny and hilarious and all of these things. But he, to me, just felt like, just like an angel kind of, you know, and so special. You know, one of the things that
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I really felt, and this could also be a shared experience with many people, is I really felt this feeling of like there was a mistake made. He shouldn't be gone. And I think that that just speaks to the closeness probably and the relationship and the uniqueness of like all individuals. But it's hard to describe him. He was incredible, like a really, you know how a lot of boys are very sort of
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
like wild and rambunctious when they're young. He was very soft and like sensitive and sweet and had this beautiful curly blonde hair and was kind of wild and loved to be in the garden and plant and very thoughtful. And that sort of was his essence, I think. When I think of him and when I went to speak at his service, or I didn't speak, I wrote something, he really kept the essence of
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
him as a child through his life, which is also, was also a really beautiful thing.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yeah. I think. Kept that fire. Totally. And so he was just the funny, like very funny and quick, smart, intelligent, kind of one of those people who would retain all information. If you're, if you were like, what is that kind of tree? He'd be like, Oh, that's a, you know, this thing, or, or, you know, where does this tree, I don't know. He was just new.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
He had my dad's sort of mind in that way, just really intellectual kind of brain. And he was really special. And we were really close. He felt to me like he was my twin or something. We felt very connected spiritually. And there was nobody in the world who... would have been like, oh, Ben, he's kind of a bad guy. Like he was just like everybody had a good experience with him.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And one of the most important things that I like to say with regards to suicide is not somebody that you would ever imagine in terms of stigma would take their life or would die by suicide. Even for me, which was probably the hardest thing, experience was the shock of it, you know?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So her addiction was actually before my brother died. Okay.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yeah. So her addiction was when my sisters were younger. And she went to rehab. Her addiction got like very out of control.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So she was 40 prior to this. She drank alcohol. She probably would get too drunk sometimes, but she would have never considered herself an addict. And I don't think anyone around would have been like, oh, she's got a drinking problem. It was just like the environment was very party. And I don't think she would have
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
ever said I need to stop drinking or anything but she certainly drank she barely took medication wouldn't really take Advil Tylenol try to be very healthy but what she did always say which is interesting in hindsight is she would always say like oh if I was ever to try heroin or if I was to do drugs like they would kill me because I'm like all or nothing type of a person
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And she made these comments and probably because there was a part of her that was considering her fate and her dad's fate and wondering about, you know, I don't think she had like the language for it, but I think she was probably had something in her that felt right.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
connected to his him and his addiction and so she had my sisters and she was 40 years old and she had a c-section and they gave her opiates and she took the opiates for pain and then when they were about two she came to me and I had no idea and said you know I've been taking painkillers And I think I need to go to rehab. And I was like, what? Like I had no idea.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And she said, you know, it was to sleep. Like I couldn't sleep. Like after the babies were born, I tried to take Benadryl and that wasn't working. And then I would take the opiates. And so I was just taking them at night. And that was, I think that was like a year where she would just take it at night to get sleep. And she was very open. And I think probably only told me once she
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
like realized it herself. Like, I don't think she would have hid it from us because she was always telling us everything. So she said, you know, I'm taking these pills and I need to go to rehab. And I found a place in Mexico and they do like a holistic thing. And I just need to get off them. Like my body's addicted, but that's it. And I was like, okay, that makes sense.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I'd had experience with my dad and opiates. And so, yeah, she goes to this place and And then halfway through the treatment, she's like, you know, I got to get back because the kids are starting school. And I think this was actually a really bad time to come here. And I'm like, wait, what? Like, you're here. What are you talking about?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Like, you're not just going to leave because they're starting school. Like, you knew they were starting school. And I think that overall, it's more of a priority that you finish your treatment. And she was like, it's fine. It's really important. They need like stability and they need to get back in school. And we got in a big, it was a big fight actually.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And so she left and then she went home and I went, oh, she doesn't want to stop taking them. And that's when progressively things got much worse. And she decided she was going to move to Nashville and that she was going to find time to go back to the rehab. you know, she was taking more and more pills. She ended up getting up to 80, 80 pills a day. And then she went back to the rehab.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
She went home. She had like a week. And then I called her and I could just tell it was just felt like this thing that was started to spiral. And I was like, have you taken anything? And she was like, no. And then she like went to a dentist office or something and had like a dental work done and then needed to take some She's like, I have to take I have to take painkillers. And I know that trick.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I was like, OK, I see what's happening here. And then it just spiraled. It was like the opiates were, you know, so high up the amount. And then she like. Went out one night in Nashville and somebody gave her cocaine. And then it became cocaine, opiates, alcohol, and got so bad to the point where she ended up in heart failure in Cedars-Sinai in LA. So she basically was just going crazy.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And me and my brother got her to, which is in the book, like get on a bus to come to LA because she wouldn't fly because she couldn't do cocaine on the airplane. So we, my brother took her on a bus and brought her to Cedars. And then she was in the ICU for about a week. And then the amazing thing is, and it was a slow sort of like, you know, because she ended up in Cedars and,
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
She was so honest that she told the people working there, you know, I have a drug problem. And she's not realizing that they would call a social worker. And she was kind of saying, I need to get help. But I, you know, but she just told them and they took my sisters away from her. And they were like three then? How old were they? Gosh. Gosh. It would have been five or six, maybe five or six.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So actually, the courts just gave them to my grandma. Yeah. And then once she completed rehab and she had to send her urine tests and then whatever, the social workers basically said, well, you need a court-appointed monitor with you if you're going to have the kids back in the house. So I was the court-appointed monitor. Oh, Riley. And so I kind of had to live with them. until she finished.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
It was like a year or something, year or two that she had to have that. And that was hard. That was really hard because she also didn't want to be sober, like still, but she did, you know, for her kids and she didn't relapse at all. She never relapsed. And this was like 2017, I think. And there were other issues like
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
When she would go to the doctors who were giving her the post-rehab drugs, she would convince them to give her like way too many. But other than that, she never took narcotics again until, which is actually interesting. So when my brother died, my first thought was like, she's going to relapse. She's going to obviously, like how could she not? And like OD or something.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So she didn't do that. And that was actually something I was like so to the day she died proud of her for. And I thought was really important because she'd always be like two years sober, three years sober. And I think she always felt like I wasn't proud of her or like I wasn't giving her enough praise for her sobriety. But really, I was just frightened. Like I was scared to say anything.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Like, yay, you know, you're whatever. And I feel like I should have. I think I withheld the excitement because I was nervous that she'd relapse. Of course you were.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yeah. And so I think that the fact that my brother died and she never relapsed was actually so incredible. And before she died, coincidentally, she had had like a infection. She'd had a surgery and she had to take Oxy, I think.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I was like, oh, God, like, here we go. This is going to be a whole thing. I didn't think she was going to like go full crazy, but I thought she was going to definitely drag it out. But I kind of was like, I'm not going to ask because I guess I learned my lesson. I'm just going to let her do what she's going to do. And this was probably in like November and she died in January.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I knew she was taking them. Or maybe it was sort of December time. I knew she was taking them and whatever. She had to take them. Like I talked to the doctor. But when she died, my first thought was she's OD'd. And my housekeeper was like... I don't know what's happened. There's her pills here or something. I can't remember the exact conversation. And I was like, oh, she's mixed something.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
She's OD'd on accident. Something's had a reaction. And she had told me a few weeks earlier, I'm taking it, but I'm being responsible. And I was like, okay, I'm just going to not get involved here. And when she died and the autopsy report came back, it said like therapeutic amounts of whatever was in her blood.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I just felt so proud of her because she was just taking exactly what was prescribed for the time it was prescribed. And so I think it's really important to share that because I don't think she was going to relapse, you know, had she stayed alive. And I think that actually a part of her when my brother died made her want to stay sober because he would have wanted that.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yeah. I think it did in a way. And that kind of can feel heartbreaking. But also there's a part of me that's like, who's to say that it's a precipice of something that's here on this planet? That's right. You know?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So I kind of choose to feel more hopeful about that, I guess, because I think that like something I've really haven't liked in my grief experience is the sort of feeling around death that it's like a failure.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
which is so weird because we all die and it's like at all ages at any time it's just part of life and there's this feeling around it that's like oh no i'm so this horrible thing happened to you but but it's kind of ridiculous you know yeah who's to say that on the other side of it is not 20 million times better than this Exactly.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So I think that like the sort of view around death and my view on dying when touring this book and people are like, oh, I'm so sorry. Of course, it was tragic and like extremely painful and traumatized the shit out of me. But I also don't instinctually in my heart believe that the human beliefs around death and the fear are totally valid.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
The sort of place she was right before she died was like she would go on hikes and was like, I'm going to start a grief podcast. And so she was actually trying to like live for my sisters and my brother in honor of him. And she was really trying, you know. Yeah. Though she was totally heartbroken. I think that
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
those things are happening, you know, and the book did come out and I think that it did have the effect that she wanted it to in terms of just reaching people and people relating to it on a human level. Cause I think a lot of her life, she spent not feeling like a human in a way.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Right. And then when you really think about like what life is about and what a successful life is, I think to me, it's ability to give and receive love. And I feel like she was exceptional at one of those things.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Right. Oh my gosh. Well, I think it's, I think that like the obvious things are like, well, the spiritual problem is trauma, not enough love, whatever. But I also saw someone who really didn't understand what they were doing here and on a more profound level, you know, didn't understand her purpose and desire to, for someone to say like, Hey, this is what life is.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Like, which is a funny thing that it's looked at as this like esoteric conversation, but it's like kind of nuts that were just plopped here with no context. And so I like to be confused feels like, Legit. Right. Seems like it should be like a baseline 101. Right.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
This is what we're here to talk about. Yeah. So I think that there's just like... a lack of understanding and like purpose with her and wanting definitely love. Like love was a big one for her. I don't think she could receive love very well. Yeah. I don't know.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
You know, I spent like my whole, my hours of my day that are, or when I'm going to bed and I should be sleeping, like wondering, why did this happen? And what does this mean? And what is addiction? Like, what is it? Trauma? Is it, is it genetic? I have no idea. I don't have any answers in that respect. I just saw somebody who had some kind of hole they wanted to fill.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yes. She was very, had real abandonment stuff. She would very quickly drop friends if she felt that they were going to drop her first kind of a thing. But then also you reminded me like she was in pain, you know, and she didn't want to feel pain, like God forbid, you know, it's really difficult to live with that much pain, grief. for a long time.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I think she just hit a point where it felt nice to escape that.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yes. I can't recite it, but it basically says that wanting people know that the Beauty Ben that was my mother.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Thank you so much. Thank you, Riley.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
It really is. It is. Well, I really appreciate you having me. I mean, I listen to your podcast, so that's very cool. I do a lot of podcasts and I don't listen to all of them, so I don't know what I'm doing. And I really love your podcast, so I'm really happy to be here. So thank you for having me. Oh my gosh.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I feel like I have like two lives kind of.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Tell me, what do you want to talk about? Oh, that's a good question. I don't know. I don't have anything particular that I want to talk about, but I'm happy to talk about anything, literally. So whatever you feel is appropriate.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Well, my name is Riley Keough and I am the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough and the eldest grandchild of Elvis Presley. That's the sort of the easy, the cliff notes. Tell us about your mama. My mother was Lisa Marie Presley, and she was a wonderfully unique and fierce and incredibly strong woman and mother who had a really... unique life, obviously.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And, you know, I think a lot of human experiences within this unique setting, but she kind of, you know, obviously lost her father and grew up in a very intense situation of being Elvis Presley's only child.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Well, it's something I think about a lot. I'm kind of somebody who's obsessed with like where I came from and what happened to my parents and their parents. And so I know everything, you know, and I always have. And that kind of had nothing to do with Elvis. It was more just like on both sides of my family, I was always very curious.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I think I always had an instinct of like about sort of carrying that because when I would find these things out about my family members I'd never met, there was an emotional connection to them, you know? And so on that side of the family, there's a long history of poverty for one. My family came from many generations of really kind of extreme poverty and addiction, alcohol abuse, drug abuse.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And she, my mother, you know, also suffered from addiction and And lost her father at nine. And so I think the grief of that really dictated a lot of her life and the way that she wasn't. really able to process it, I think, because of the nature of the grief and how it was a sort of shared grief and it was a global grief.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And so I don't think there was particularly a lot of room for her to have her own grief. So that was really unique. But outside of the Elvis stuff, there is a lot of generational trauma, you know?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yeah. His mother was an alcoholic and it was the South and in the times where, you know, the way he sort of grew up, like they didn't really have money. And that was kind of a huge, if I could imagine coming from that kind of a lifestyle of
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
scarcity in that way and then turning into sort of like the most famous person in the world and the sort of the money and the the stuff and all of that I would imagine that that would be also kind of hard to process which I think you see all the time but I think that his particular situation was really polarizing because of sort of where he and his family had come from mm-hmm
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yes, totally. The whole like hillbilly family.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Her dad died, and then literally what happened was she had to live full-time with her mom in California. And I think that she had lived at Graceland in the house with Elvis and also with her mother. But for her, Graceland and the time with her father was really represented there. like a freedom and also unconditional love.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And the connection that she had with him was, I think, one of the most important connections of her life. And I think that the loss of him, it's not to say that other people didn't love her, but she always would say, I don't remember anybody else other than my dad until he died. And so she was grieving, but she was grieving with like the country and the world.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I think, you know, she says in the book that she was sitting on the stairs and watching people come in and fainting and being carried away by ambulances. And so I think she was very protective of her grief because it felt like something she
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
could have ownership or like it was I think people would ask her about him a lot and as she grew older she didn't really ever talk about his death and she didn't talk about it publicly surely I think there were two sides of it I think that on one side she didn't properly go through the process of grief as a normal person might because it felt like this thing she was holding on to for herself
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And on the other side, I think that there was comfort in the sort of like collective grief she felt for her father, which lasted her whole life. And when she would go home to Graceland or, you know, there's something called Elvis Week, which is like an event where fans come to the house.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I would see that she would be really comforted by the fans who would hug her and hold her and the sadness that they had, that they shared over the loss of her father. So I think that it was sort of a twofold thing.