Lisa Marie Presley was “completely heartbroken” and “inconsolable” after the death of her oldest son, Benjamin Keough, 27, in an apparent suicide.
But a source told The Sun that the death of the young man, who Lisa Marie Presley said bore a “strange” resemblance to her legendary father, Elvis Presley, would not be a “big surprise.”
“It is shocking news, but it is not a big surprise either as he had been fighting,” the source said. “They are all heartbroken and devastated.”
Keough was no stranger to family turmoil either: his legendary grandfather, Elvis Presley, died at age 42, his mother was married four times and once dedicated to the Church of Scientology, and his stepparents briefly included Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage. .
Keough was found by police with a single gunshot wound to his upper torso around 6:30 a.m. Sunday at his mother’s Calabasas mansion, TMZ reported. It is not known if Keough was alone in the house.
Lisa Marie Presley’s manager said, “She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and more than devastated, but she tries to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and older daughter Riley. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.” .
Mama León with cubs ❤️💙🖤🧡🦁😘 pic.twitter.com/UiYoceWHWN
– Lisa Marie Presley (@LisaPresley) June 20, 2019
Unlike his sister, Riley, who has pursued a successful acting career on film and television, Benjamin Keough has been kept out of the spotlight. In 2009, he gave an interview in which he said he had signed a $ 5 million record deal, but nothing like that ever came of it, the Hollywood Reporter said.
In 2015, Keough shared a photo of an Elvis Presley outfit he had purchased, the Daily Mail reported. He wrote on Instagram: “I bought a grandfather piece today from a collector. He used it in 1974. Now I feel much closer to him. “
If Keough had been “fighting” recently, it’s not clear how, but in his famous show business family, his grandfather Elvis Presley was known for his excesses and dysfunctional personal life, which included his marriage to Keough’s grandmother. Priscilla Presley, whom she started dating when she was just 14 years old.
Elvis Presley’s death in 1977 came after years of drug abuse. Lisa Marie Presley, 9 at the time of her father’s death, became the sole heir to Graceland and the rest of her estate.
While Lisa Marie Presley grew up in her father’s shadow, she eventually won accolades for her own musical career, which included three rock albums, but won most of her headlines for her own troubled personal life.
Presley was married to Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1996, just as the late-troubled megastar was struck by the first wave of allegations of child abuse. For three months in 2002, Presley was also married to mercurial actor Nicolas Cage.
Keough’s father is the first husband of Lisa Marie Presley, musician Danny Keough. Presley and Danny Keough were married in 1988 and together they had Riley Keough in 1989 and Benjamin Keough in 1992. Presley and Danny Keough divorced in 1994, just before she married Michael Jackson, but she has said in interviews for years that she and Danny Keough have continued to be close friends and musical collaborators.
At the time of his son’s birth, Presley was a devoted Scientologist. His mother, Priscilla Presley, had brought him to the controversial church of worship in the late 1970s.
Reporting on the birth of Benjamin Keough in Tampa, Florida, the Associated Press quoted a spokesperson as saying that the 24-year-old Presley delivered the 7-pound, 8-ounce boy “naturally and in complete silence in a calm and supportive environment. ” guidelines established by the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, in his book “Dianetics”.
Presley’s devotion to Scientology lasted until the 2000s when she was honored for her work on behalf of a church-backed literary crusade. She also took up church opposition to psychiatry and the use of psychotropic drugs for mental health conditions. At a 2002 congressional hearing, Presley testified against the use of psychiatric medications for children diagnosed with ADHD or with other behavioral, mental, and emotional problems.
“However, what I want to emphasize here today is that only by searching for alternatives to drugs will parents discover for themselves the numerous simple, viable, and drug-free responses to attention, behavior and learning problems,” Presley testified in the Chamber Government Reform Committee.
But later in the decade, Presley was unhappy with Scientology and finally left the church in 2016, the Underground Bunker reported. She released a song, “So Long”, in 2012 that denounced the “soulless” churches and the “corrupt” religions that run people’s lives.
Meanwhile, Presley married a fourth time in 2006 to guitarist and music producer Michael Lockwood. They became parents to two twin daughters, Harper and Finley, in 2008. But Presley filed for divorce in 2016, and the two were embroiled in a bitter custody battle.
Throughout her various marriage problems, Presley has kept close to her only child. In 2009, Presley and Keough had matching tattoos, the Daily Mail reported.
Presley also liked to comment on his son’s resemblance to his father, saying in an interview, according to TMZ: “Ben is very much like Elvis,” Presley said in an interview. “I was on the Opry and it was the silent storm behind the scenes. They all turned and looked when he was there. Everyone was grabbing him for a photo because it’s just weird. “
It has also been said that Presley wrote her 2012 song “Storm and Grace” about her son; Storm is Benjamin’s middle name, The Hollywood Reporter said.
“You have the most beautiful heart I’ve ever known,” says the lyrics at one point. “It kills me that you can never show it / And a shell has developed / Stop moving so fast there, and then / Take your foot off the gas.”
“You surprise me,” the song continues. “Your storm and your grace / My heart can’t seem to bear it / Your storm and your grace”.
