Lisa Marie Presley’s Son Benjamin Keough Dies at 27: She’s ‘Beyond Devastated’
RIP. Lisa Marie Presley‘s son Benjamin Keough died on Sunday, July 12, according to multiple reports. The grandson of the late Elvis Presley was just 27.
“She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter, Riley,” the singer’s rep Roger Widynowski told People in a statement. “She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.”
Presley shared Benjamin with ex-husband Danny Keough, whom she was married to from 1988 to 1994. According to TMZ, Benjamin died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“The family is devastated,” a source exclusively tells Closer Weekly. “They’re all worried about Lisa now. The family is gathering together.”
In a press release, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said deputies were assigned to the home in Calabasas, California, regarding a “rescue response” call. They found Keough “suffering from one gunshot wound to the upper torso” and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The investigation is ongoing.
Mama Lion with cubs ❤️💙🖤🧡🦁😘 pic.twitter.com/UiYoceWHWN
— Lisa Marie Presley (@LisaPresley) June 20, 2019
Although Benjamin stayed out of the spotlight, he was a spitting image of his legendary grandfather. “Ben does look so much like Elvis. He was at the Opry and was the quiet storm behind the stage,” Presley recounted to CMT in 2012. “Everybody turned around and looked when he was over there. Everybody was grabbing him for a photo because it is just uncanny.” He was even featured alongside his siblings in Presley’s remake of her father’s “I Love You Because.”
“Lisa was very close to Ben,” the source tells Closer. The pair got matching tattoos of “a Celtic eternity knot” on Mother’s Day 2009. The ink represented “eternal love and connection.”
This is not the first tragedy to hit the rock n’ roll family. Elvis died suddenly in August 1977 at the age of 42. His private nurse Letetia Henley Kirk spoke exclusively with Closer Weekly about her experience with the icon.
“He was not only my patient but a good friend. We shared many hours together. I saw the sadness and the happiness. I saw vulnerability,” the former healthcare worker explained. “I was very fortunate [to have known him]. I wish there was something I could have done to make him a happier person.”
Kirk met Elvis around 1968 after she treated him at Memphis medical clinic for saddle sores. He adored her “country ways” a hired her in 1972, which included moving her, her husband and their children to Graceland.
“The world thinks he has everything, and yet the happiness isn’t there,” Kirk expressed. “He was miserable because he’d gained so much weight. He knew he was not going to be able to perform like he wanted to.”
Despite her dedication to helping the “Jailhouse Rock” artist find a healthier lifestyle, his struggle with addiction pressed on. Prescription drugs “came from everywhere,” Kird said. “His access to medications was overwhelming.”
Our thoughts are with the Presley family during this difficult time.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
