Lisa Marie Presley was the only child of Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla. She grew up inside Graceland, the Memphis home her father loved, and she spent her life carrying his music and his name forward. Lisa Marie passed away in 2023, and fans still talk about her as warmly as they talk about her dad.
She was also a mother. Her two oldest children, Riley and Ben, came along in 1989 and 1992. Riley Keough grew up to be an actress, and Ben was her younger brother.
Years ago Lisa Marie sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and her mother Priscilla sat right beside her. It was rare to see the two Presley women open up together like that. They talked about family and about the kind of parents they had each tried to be. Priscilla said of raising Lisa Marie, “I’m honest with her.” Then Oprah turned to Lisa Marie and asked her plainly what sort of mom she was to her own kids.
Her answer was honest, and it made people laugh and nod at the same time.
Before we get to it, here is Lisa Marie talking about her life and her family in her own words.
Lisa Marie talks about growing up a Presley
So what did she say? Lisa Marie told Oprah she was the kind of mom who smothered her kids with love. Her exact words were, “Just overwhelming them with affection and love. They need to push me off of them constantly …”
That was the one thing. Riley and Ben had to peel their mother off of them, again and again, because she just could not stop hugging and holding them. She did not mind admitting it one bit. “I’m crazy about them and they know it,” she said.
Any parent who has ever heard a child say “okay, that’s enough now” will know that feeling.
There was a second part to her answer, and it went beyond hugs. Lisa Marie wanted her children to watch her care for other people too. “I’m not happy unless I’m helping other people. And they watch me and they see that,” she told Oprah. She believed that was a lesson they would carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Here is a short, sweet clip of Lisa Marie out and about with a young Riley, the two of them side by side.
A clip of Lisa Marie and a young Riley together
Watch her with Riley and you can see exactly what she meant. The closeness is right there on her face.
Lisa Marie learned that kind of love from the best. Elvis doted on her when she was little, holding her close every chance he got, and she handed every bit of it down to her own children, maybe even more. The rest of what she told Oprah is worth hearing in her own voice.