The Tragic Truth About Benjamin Keough's Short Life As Lisa Marie Presley's Son And His Struggle Wit
Benjamin Keough was the youngest child of Lisa Marie Presley and musician Danny Keough (the former couple also have a daughter, Riley Keough, born on May 29, 1989). He was born on Oct. 21, 1992, in Tampa, Florida, and tragically passed away on July 12, 2020. While his older sibling has chosen to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, much less is known about Benjamin, although he is believed to have been a talented musician.
His passing affected his family and friends deeply, and it has also been reported that being the grandson of Elvis Presley, who he also shared a striking similarity in appearance, put tremendous pressure on him…
Who Was Benjamin Keough?
Like his father and his famous grandfather, Elvis Presley (and his mother, who has also released her own music), Benjamin Keough is believed to have been a gifted musician. He was offered a recording contract from Universal in 2009, All That's Interesting reports. However, the publication notes that he did not release any music publicly.
Lisa Marie Presley briefly spoke about Benjamin Keough during an interview with HuffPost. In addition to acknowledging the striking similarities between her son and Elvis, she also answered a question about whether he sings. "He's doing his own thing right now. I'm going to let him decide when he wants to go out and do what he wants to do," she explained.
His friend, Brandon Howard, told People that he was a great chef, a talented musician, and an incredibly intelligent individual. "He was cool and very intelligent, intelligent beyond his years. He was multi-faceted," Howard told People.
"He could be anywhere from serious, giving advice, to like super crazy and wild and dancing and partying. He was a very loving person as a brother."
How Did Benjamin Keough Pass Away?
Benjamin Keough passed away in 2020 and was reported to have taken his own life. His passing profoundly impacted his mother, Lisa Marie Presley, who was left heartbroken. At the time, her manager Roger Widynowski released a statement (via BBC News), writing that she was "heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life."
Presley and her son were reported to be incredibly close. No one can truly know what Benjamin was feeling; speculating would be wrong. However, his friend Brandon Howard gave an interview to People just days after Benjamin's passing and commented on how he had struggled with the pressure of being the grandson of Elvis Presley.
"Sometimes he struggled with depression, which is a serious thing with [the coronavirus pandemic] and everything happening right now and everybody being locked in the house," Howard told the publication. "It takes a lot. I wish I could have been there."
"That kind of pressure is definitely a part of what happened," he said of being part of such a famous family. "It's a tough thing when you have a lot of pressure with your family and living up to a name and an image. It's a lot of pressure. 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. You never know what triggers it. You never know…"
Benjamin looked incredibly similar to his grandfather; his mother, Lisa Marie Presley, even commented on their likeness. "Ben does look so much like Elvis. He was at the Opry and was the quiet storm behind the stage," she told CMT (via Hollywood Life). "Everybody turned around and looked when he was over there. Everybody was grabbing him for a photo because it is just uncanny."
Why Did Lisa Marie Presley Blame Herself For Her Son's Passing?
Before her own tragic passing, Lisa Marie Presley shared an essay with People, giving fans a glimpse into the inner workings of her mind. The essay honored National Grief Awareness Day and discussed her feelings about the passing of her son, Benjamin, who was just 27 years old.
"Today is 'National Grief Awareness Day,' and since I have been living in the horrific reality of its unrelenting grips since my son's death two years ago, I thought I would share a few things to be aware of in regard to grief for anyone who is interested," Presley wrote.
She later noted how grief affects people differently. Still, she found it especially challenging when "the loss was premature, unnatural, or tragic, you will become a pariah in a sense. You can feel stigmatized and perhaps judged in some way as to why the tragic loss took place. This becomes magnetized by a million if you are the parent of a child who passed. No matter how old they were. No matter the circumstances."
She went on to state that she has had to deal with her son's passing and the judgment of others (living her life in the public eye does not mean aspects of her life should have been up for discussion or the cause of speculation).
"I already battle with and beat myself up tirelessly and chronically, blaming myself every single day, and that's hard enough to now live with, but others will judge and blame you too, even secretly or behind your back which is even more cruel and painful on top of everything else," she added.
Lisa Marie Presley made no secret of her pain from losing her son and how she had to keep going for her girls. Her girls are Benjamin's full sibling Riley, who is reported to have become a death doula, and two younger half-siblings, Finley Aaron Love Lockwood and Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood (born to Presley and her ex-husband, Michael Lockwood).
Sadly, Lisa Marie Presley's life was cut short not long after she penned this essay, and she passed away on Jan. 12, 2023, at 54.
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