Lisa Marie Presley’s Son Benjamin’s Cause of Death Revealed
The world of music was in for a shock this weekend when they heard that Lisa Marie Presley’s son Benjamin Keough died at the age of 27. On Tuesday the cause of death was revealed. Keough died of a gunshot wound. His death was ruled a suicide.
Photo Credit: BNO News
Benjamin Keough was the son of Lisa Marie Presley and musician Danny Keough. He was the nephew of Riley Keough and the grandson of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. There is word that at one point he tried to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps signing a $5 million dollar record deal with Universal Records in 2009 to record up to five albums. However, the label denied that any such deal had been struck.
In 2013, Lisa Marie released a comment that she was going to let Benjamin “do his own thing”. "He’s doing his own thing right now," she said. "I’m going to let him decide when he wants to go out and do what he wants to do."
Benjamin Keough received media attention when his mother released a picture of him looking exactly like his grandfather. He also reportedly inspired his mother’s 2012 hit “Storm & Grace” (his middle name is Storm). Here are some of the lyrics from that song.
"You have the most beautiful heart/ That I’ve ever known/ It kills me you can’t ever show it/ And a shell has been grown."
Benjamin is survived by his mother, father and sisters Riley Keough and Finley and Harper Lockwood. Finley and Harper are 11-year-old twins that Lisa had with husband Michael Lockwood. She married Lockwood after divorcing Keough in 2005.
All Lisa Marie’s children appeared in her video for her father’s song, “I Love You Because”. The video was a duet between herself and her late father made possible through archival footage.
In 2019, Lisa Marie posted a photo on Twitter of herself with all her children. She captioned it “Lion Bear with Cubs”.
Lisa Marie is devastated by the loss of her son. A rep for Presley released the following statement. "She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter, Riley. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life."
Keough’s friend, musician Brandon Howard spoke out about the death and the possible reasons why Keough would choose to take his own life. "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. It takes a lot. I wish I could have been there."
Howard also mentioned that Keough’s struggles to live up to the Presley family name may have contributed to his mental health issues.
"That kind of pressure is definitely a part of what happened," he says. "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 ... It's so random."
Keough was found dead in his Calabasas home on Sunday. Our hearts go out to his family during this difficult time.
