Lisa Marie Presley’s Death Made Riley Keough Move Back to Calabasas: ‘I Needed To Be Close to My Sisters’
Elvis Presley‘s granddaughter, Riley Keough, did what any older sister would do when her younger sisters needed her: she held them close. On the heels of the unexpected death of their mother, Lisa Marie Presley, Keough moved to Calabasas, CA, to live closer to her younger sisters, Finley and Harper Lockwood. Although her career is moving at a breakneck speed, Keough, 34, stepped in to ensure her 14-year-old sisters would never feel alone as they mourned their mother’s death.
Riley Keough moved to be closer to her teenage twin sisters after Lisa Marie Presley’s death
Riley Keough grew up in Calabasas, CA. The Daisy Jones & The Six star lived there with her father, Danny Keough, mom, Lisa Marie, and brother, Benjamin.
Many years later, Lisa Marie returned to the town to raise her twin daughters, Harper and Finley, after divorcing their father, Michael Lockwood. The girls have lived with Lockwood since their mother’s death in January 2023.
EMTs were called to Lisa Marie’s home in Calabasas on the morning of January 12 after Elvis Presley’s only daughter was found unresponsive. She reportedly complained of stomach pain earlier in the day. She suffered suspected cardiac arrest following a “small bowel obstruction” caused by scar tissue that developed after bariatric surgery years earlier.
Since her mother’s death, Riley has significantly changed her life with her husband, Ben Smith-Peterson, and their daughter, Tupelo. They moved to live near her sisters.
The family initially lived in a cul-de-sac in the neighborhood. She told Vanity Fair, “After my mom died, I needed to be close to my sisters. There were only three houses available out here, so we just moved in. We were stuck.”
“I love suburbia,” she says. “This is my dream: normalcy. I’m happy out here.”
Lisa Marie Presley’s former home went up for sale in August 2023
Eight months after her death, Lisa Marie’s former home went up for sale. The estate was listed for over $4M and appears to be under contract, per Redfin.
Lisa Marie’s home, which she was reportedly renting with the option to buy, boasts six bedrooms and seven baths. It is 7,500 square feet large and includes a home theatre, wine cellar, pool, and views of the surrounding canyon.
Elvis’ only daughter lived there with her ex-husband and Riley Keough’s father, Danny, at the time of her death. Twins Harper and Finey resided there as well.
Riley Keough honors Lisa Marie Presley as a mother remaining close to her sisters and raising her daughter, Tupelo
Family is everything to Riley Keough. Her husband Ben Smith-Peterson, daughter Tupelo, and close ties with her siblings, including Harper and Finey Lockwood and late brother Benjamin Storm Keough, are a grounding force in her life.
“This is the thing in my life so far that I have wanted to, quote-unquote, get right,” Keough said to Vanity Fair. “I don’t think you ever can be a perfect parent, but I would like to be the best mom for her that I can be.”
“That’s very important to me,” she continued. Riley’s statement sounded like the message she wrote to read at her mother’s funeral and burial at Graceland in Memphis, TN.
However, Riley was too emotional to read the words she had written. Therefore, her husband, Ben Smith-Peterson, stepped in for his grieving wife.
“I’m going to read something Riley wrote,” he said before reading her prepared words, titled A Letter to My Mama. He began, “Thank you for being my mother in this life.”
“Thank you for giving me strength, my heart, my empathy, my courage, my sense of humor, my manners, my temper, my wildness, my tenacity,” Smith-Peterson read. “I am a product of your heart.”
He concluded, “My sisters are a product of your heart. My brother is a product of your heart. We are you; you are us, my eternal love. I hope you finally know how loved you were here. Thank you for trying so hard for us. If I didn’t tell you every day, thank you.”
Riley Keough was named sole trustee of Graceland on Aug. 4, 2023. Her mother, Lisa Marie, is buried on the property next to her son Benjamin Keough and across from her father, Elvis Presley, grandparents Vernon and Gladys, and great-grandmother, Minnie May Presley.
