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Lisa Marie Presley, the sole offspring of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, passed away on January 12, 2023, at 54 after experiencing cardiac arrest. Her death occurred shortly after she attended the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards, where she commended Austin Butler for his award-winning depiction of her father in Elvis.
Aside from her legacy as the daughter of the King of Rock and Roll, Lisa Marie was a dedicated mother. She had four children: 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 27, a loss she described as “shattering.” After her passing in 2023, her daughters inherited Graceland, Elvis’s iconic estate. During Lisa’s public memorial, it was revealed that Riley had quietly welcomed her first child with her husband, Ben Smith-Peterson, making Lisa Marie a grandmother shortly before her death.
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 has established a successful career in modeling and acting. Riley debuted on the runway in 2004 for Dolce & Gabbana and transitioned to acting in 2010 with The Runaways, featuring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. She gained recognition for her roles in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), American Honey (2016), and Logan Lucky (2017), and appeared in an episode of Riverdale in 2018.
In 2022, Riley expanded her career by directing War Pony at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Camera d’Or. “I’m very overwhelmed. I haven’t really taken it all in yet,” she told People at the time.
Riley has often spoken about her upbringing between two different worlds. “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 with her father. She described the contrast as giving her balance: “My memories of growing up with him were so colorful and eccentric and fun.”
In 2007, Riley and her mother appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where Lisa Marie explained that Riley was encouraged to explore her own interests 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, expressing in a 2021 Instagram post her desire 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,” Riley wrote in a 2022 essay for Vogue Australia. “He’s calm and loyal and strong and sensitive. He’s my best friend.” Together, they 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. His resemblance to his grandfather was often noted. “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 a private life, occasionally pursuing music but struggling with the expectations of the Presley family. After his death by suicide in July 2020, close friend Brandon Howard spoke to People about Benjamin’s private life, explaining that he sometimes struggled with depression, especially during 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 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 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.
