This candid memoir was compiled from hours of tapes Lisa Marie recorded just before her death in 2023. A year earlier, she asked her daughter Riley to help her, and the result blends Lisa Marie’s own voice with the memories of a daughter who lived it.
Lisa Marie was raised at Graceland, their 10,000 sq. ft home. The unconditional love from her father was countered with neglect from her mother Priscilla, who moved into show business after divorcing Elvis. Lisa Marie was just 9, and with him when he died from a barbiturate overdose - waiting for the hospital to pronounce him dead, as everything was swiped from the home. Everybody went to town.
Both Lisa Marie and Priscilla grew up being used by people who had an agenda. Lisa Marie lived through a string of Priscilla’s boyfriends, the worst being Michael Edwards who was physically abusive to Priscilla and sexually abusive to Lisa Marie. He was one of many who wrote a memoir, wrapping himself in the legacy of Elvis. I have read several of those - from his father, his nanny, his girlfriends, his friends, his spiritual advisor, his cook. The Presley name is a multi-million dollar enterprise. This is unique, as Lisa Marie holds nothing back about her own life; the private schools she skipped and her teenage uncontrollability, leading Priscilla to surrender her to the Scientology Celebrity Center to control.
At 20 she married rocker Danny Keough, and at 21 she was a mother to Riley. She had a son, Ben, and twin daughters. When Michael Jackson heard her demo tape, he pursued her and they married, leading to worldwide travel and teams of security - and yet, many times when they donned disguises and went out incognito. She is very honest about having no prototype for adulthood, growing up with no family, no home life example. For her part, Riley feels she and Ben had magical childhoods, which despite everything swirling around Lisa Marie is to her credit.
In her forties, she became hooked on opioids, escalating to 80 pills a day. She states near the end of the tapes “I don’t think my spark will ever come back.” She hoped by writing this autobiography, it would be fulfilling if it really helped someone.
The tapes are not complete, so while there were successes, what comes to mind first when she recorded were all the setbacks. It is balanced by Riley’s optimistic voice, but does become overwhelming, the continual betrayals and heartbreaks.
This is recommended for Presley and Elvis fans, but anyone dealing with addiction and suicide will find a lot to relate to.
Lisa Marie Presley was the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. She released 3 studio albums, the first certified gold. She died January 12, 2023.
Riley Keough is an actress and director, and now the sole trustee of Graceland.
2024 / Hardcover / 304 pages
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