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How Elvis Presley’s Daughter Reacted to Miley Cyrus Twerking and Singing ‘We Can’t Stop’

Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, said her daughter, Riley Keough, doesn't behave in controversial ways. Lisa Marie didn't understand Miley Cyrus' performance of "Blurred Lines" and "We Can't Stop" at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. "We Can't Stop" was a hit.

Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, said her daughter, Riley Keough, doesn’t do controversial things. An interviewer asked her how she might react if her children did something risque like Miley Cyrus’ performance of “Blurred Lines” and “We Can’t Stop” at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Presley had a lot to say.

Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus on a stage
Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus | Theo Wargo/WireImage

Elvis Presley’s daughter and her children reacted the same way to Miley Cyrus’ performances of ‘Blurred Lines’ and ‘We Can’t Stop’

During a 2013 interview with HuffPost’s Pat Gallagher, Presley said her daughter, Keough, doesn’t behave in controversial ways. Presley said Keough is a stabilizing force in her life. She laughed off attempts by the tabloid media to portray Keough as a wild child.

Gallagher asked Presley how she would react to her children doing something similar to Cyrus’ performance of “Blurred Lines” and “We Can’t Stop” at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. She said she wouldn’t know how to react. “I don’t really know what that was all about,” he said. “I guess if I understood what that was all about, maybe I could try to understand it but I didn’t quite get it.”

Presley revealed her family felt the same way about the performance. “We all had the same reaction I think everybody had,” she said, laughing. “I was actually watching it with my kids and we were all like: ‘Whoa!’ We all had the same reaction which I was happy about.”

How Elvis Presley’s daughter would have reacted if her children acted like Miley Cyrus

Presley returned to the question of how she might react to her children acting like Cyrus did at the VMAs. “I don’t know what I would do, really,” she said. “It would depend on what was the purpose of that. Did you actually have a purpose there? Did you accomplish what you wanted to accomplish? What are you trying to do here? 

“Because there’s a responsibility with that sort of thing,” she added. “You can use it for good or you can use it to freak people out, whatever you want to do, but I would try to lean towards trying to use it for good and not just for shock value.” Presley said she’d support her kids acting like Cyrus if they could explain their intentions.

Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie, wearing a pearl necklace
Lisa Marie Presley | Bryan Steffy/WireImage

The way the world reacted to ‘We Can’t Stop’

“We Can’t Stop” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s one of Cyrus’ highest-charting singles. Its parent album, Bangerz, was also a hit, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and staying on the chart for 55 weeks.

Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus singing at each other
Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus | Kevin Mazur/WireImage for MTV
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“We Can’t Stop” was a hit in the United Kingdom as well. The Official Charts Company reports the track hit No. 1 in the U.K. It was her first No. 1 single on the chart. While Presley had a difficult time understanding Cyrus’ VMAs performance, it seemed the public embraced the song.