Introduction:
When Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis Presley, passed away in 2022, the world lost more than a celebrity — it lost the final living connection to one of the most enduring cultural icons of the 20th century. Yet Lisa Marie left behind her voice in the form of an autobiography, From Here to the Great Unknown. The book, completed by her daughter Riley Keough, offers not only a glimpse into the life of Elvis’s daughter but also a haunting chronicle of pain, survival, and the complicated legacy of the Presley family.
Released on October 8th, the autobiography is far from a glamorous memoir. Instead, it is deeply personal, raw, and at times difficult to read. Lisa Marie recounts the highs of musical success — selling millions of records and carving out her own career — but she also reveals a lifetime marked by grief, fractured family ties, and personal struggles. For those who have long viewed Graceland as a place of myth and magic, this book peels back the curtain to reveal the human cost of life in the Presley orbit.
One of the most heartbreaking sections comes from Lisa Marie’s childhood memories of her father. Even at just eight years old, she sensed Elvis’s declining health and feared his death long before it happened. She recalls poems where she wrote, “I hope my Daddy doesn’t die.” The memoir describes in harrowing detail the nightmarish scenes she witnessed at Graceland: her father collapsing, being held upright by aides, and her final fleeting encounter with him before his sudden passing. These recollections are not simply tragic anecdotes but formative traumas that shaped the rest of her life.
The book does not shy away from exposing difficult truths about her upbringing under Priscilla Presley. Lisa details moments of neglect, her relocation from Memphis to California, and disturbing allegations involving Priscilla’s then-boyfriend Michael Edwards, who she claims acted inappropriately toward her. These revelations cast a long shadow over Priscilla’s reputation and have sparked heated debate among readers and fans alike.
Lisa Marie also reflects on her tumultuous adult years — her young marriage to Danny Keough, the pressures of raising children under constant public scrutiny, and her whirlwind relationship with Michael Jackson. Surprisingly, she portrays Jackson with tenderness, recalling their deep emotional bond while acknowledging the challenges that ultimately unraveled their union. Other chapters remain conspicuously absent, such as her marriage to Nicolas Cage or the bitter divorce proceedings with Michael Lockwood. Riley Keough’s editorial hand seems evident here, possibly protecting her younger siblings from renewed pain.
Perhaps most devastating are the sections dealing with Lisa Marie’s own battles with addiction, her health struggles following bariatric surgery, and the unbearable grief she faced after her son Benjamin’s death in 2020. Her decision to keep his body in her home for weeks after his passing, though shocking to some, is described with such aching sorrow that it underscores the depth of her despair.
What ultimately emerges from From Here to the Great Unknown is not just a memoir of tragedy, but a testament to resilience. Lisa Marie’s candid honesty leaves a powerful legacy, one now carried forward by her daughter Riley, who stands as trustee of Graceland and a successful artist in her own right. Though Lisa Marie’s story is painful, it also ensures that her truth — and her voice — will endure alongside her father’s immortal legacy.