Warning: This page contains a discussion of suicide, which some readers may find upsetting.

Lisa Marie Presley kept her son Benjamin’s remains at her house for two months after he died. Lisa Marie, the late Elvis Presley’s sole child, died in January 2023 at the age of 54. Bowel blockage eventually emerged as the cause of her death.

Lisa Marie was working on a memoir before she died, which her daughter Riley Keough has completed.
In From Here to the Great Unknown, Lisa recounted her struggle to ensure the survival of her other children after Benjamin’s death. Consequently, Lisa postponed saying goodbye to him, partly due to her uncertainty about whether Benjamin’s burial would take place in Hawaii or at Graceland.

She added, “My house includes a separate casitas bedroom, which I kept Ben Ben in for two months. There is no law in the state of California requiring you to bury someone promptly. I discovered an empathic funeral home owner. She answered, ‘We’ll deliver Ben Ben to you.” In her biography, Lisa Marie stated that she had grown accustomed to him, taking care of him and maintaining him in a 55-degree chamber. Benjamin died at the age of 27 in 2020, after a lengthy fight with mental health issues. He died by suicide. Lisa Marie and Riley decided to get tattoos to honor Benjamin, and the tattoo artist asked if they had any photos of him. Elvis’ daughter responded, “No, but I can show you.” Riley then wrote in her memoir, “Lisa Marie Presley had just invited this unfortunate man to look at the body of her deceased son, who happened to be just next to us in the casitas.” I’ve lived a pretty bizarre life, but this is one of my top five moments.” Lisa Marie shared an essay she authored about ‘navigating loss’ with people before her passing in 2023.

She stated, “This is not an easy subject for anyone, and it is extremely unpopular to discuss. This topic is quite lengthy, potentially triggering, and quite challenging to tackle. If we want to solve this problem, we must discuss grief. I’m sharing my thoughts to enhance the situation. I already struggle with and beat myself up daily, blaming myself, and that’s difficult enough to deal with; others will criticize and blame you as well, even discreetly or behind your back, which is much more harsh and hurtful on top of everything else.