Who Is Riley Keough’s Father, Danny Keough?
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Many people know Riley Keough as the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and granddaughter of the famed King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Elvis Presley. But by comparison, the actor’s father, Danny Keough, mostly stays out of the spotlight.
Danny, an actor and longtime musician, is the first ex-husband of Lisa Marie and father to Riley and her late brother, Benjamin Keough. Even after his 1994 divorce from Lisa Marie, Danny played an active role in Riley’s childhood and made a name for himself as a singer and guitarist. The father and daughter have also remained close through the family’s recent tragedies, including Lisa Marie’s unexpected death in January.
Here’s everything you need to know about Danny Keough, his relationship with Riley, and his place in the famous Presley family.
Danny Keough’s Early Life
According to People, Danny Keough was born November 6, 1964, in Chicago to parents Francis and Janet Keough. He had one sibling, a younger brother named Tom.
Keough was involved with the Church of Scientology from an early age. After his parents divorced, Janet married a Scientologist named Alan Hollander. The couple cofounded the Delphian School, a private Scientology academy in Sheridan, Oregon, in the early 1970s. Janet served as the school’s administrator following her divorce from Hollander, with Danny and Tom later graduating from the academy.
Can’t get enough of the Presley family? Subscribe to our free newsletter so you won’t miss a thing.
A Scientologist who knew the siblings told People in 1988 that Keough was a “bit of a rebellious youngster” but had a relatively normal upbringing. “Danny was a great kid with a great life—dogs and friends and sports and music,” they said. “He is a very talented musician and extremely good-looking.”
Keough moved to Los Angeles in 1984, and his involvement with Scientology would ultimately bring he and Presley together.
Marriage to Lisa Marie Presley
Keough and Lisa Marie Presley met in 1985 at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre, the organization’s large spiritual and residential complex catering to celebrities and important figures, where she lived in an apartment. Still a teenager, Presley had dropped out of high school and began abusing illegal drugs, and she was sent to the Celebrity Centre to undergo rehabilitation. Keough, who was in his early 20s at the time, worked as a house musician at Mad Hatter Studios in Los Angeles and played at various gigs around the city while they were dating. He also painted houses to earn extra money as he and Presley moved from place to place.
The pair married on October 3, 1988, when Presley was only 20 years old. The following spring, they welcomed their daughter, Danielle Riley Keough, on May 29, 1989. Their second child, Benjamin, followed three years later on October 21, 1992.
But the marriage only lasted about six years. Presley told Marie Claire in 2007 that resentment formed over their financial situation. “I had more than he did, and it became a power struggle,” she said. “It is hard for a man to be with a woman who is stronger, wealthier. So, in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘I know, I’ll get with someone more compatible.’” They divorced in the spring of 1994, and within three weeks, Presley married pop music icon Michael Jackson in the Dominican Republic—which she went on to call the biggest mistake of her life.
Relationship with Riley
Following Keough and Presley’s divorce, Riley and Benjamin split time between their mother’s homes in Los Angeles and at Graceland, and their father’s residences in L.A. and Hawaii. Riley detailed her father’s frugal lifestyle in a 2017 interview with The Guardian, revealing he slept on a mattress on the floor of his apartment. Still, her memories of growing up with him were “so colorful and eccentric and fun. It was a good vibe, you know?”
Although Keough hasn’t been in the spotlight as much in recent years, Riley occasionally posts photos of him to her Instagram account. The father and daughter also worked together. When Riley starred in The Lodge, he joined the cast in a supporting role for the 2019 horror film, which grossed more than $3 million worldwide.
In May of this year, he was seen publicly for the first time since Lisa Marie’s death, with Riley and her young daughter in Calabasas. They were spotted leaving a market with a pair of drinks in hand.
Given his cordial relationship with Lisa Marie through the years, it’s likely Keough will continue to be there for Riley as her family and career continue to blossom.
Close Ties with the Presleys
Keough and Lisa Marie always maintained a close connection, even after their divorce and through her later marriages to actor Nicolas Cage and music producer Michael Lockwood. They even worked together onstage, with Keough becoming Presley’s bass player in 2005 and mentoring her as she built her music career.
Presley likened their bond to a brother-sister relationship. “Ultimately, this is a good message to send out to people: You don’t have to put your crap on your kids even if you are not together,” she told People. “You can still be civilized. I knew at the age that I had the kids with him that Danny was someone I could be connected with for the rest of my life.”
Tragedy struck the family when Benjamin died by suicide on July 12, 2020. Danny was devastated, with his ex-mother-in-law Priscilla Presley writing he was “completely lost” in a social media post. According to The U.S. Sun, Lisa Marie was racked with guilt over Benjamin’s death and sold her nearly $2 million property in Calabasas, California, in 2020. By the following year, she and her twin daughters, Harper and Finley, had moved in with Danny amid her divorce proceedings with her fourth husband.
Presley and Keough were still living together at the time of her death. The New York Post reported that Keough spoke with first responders on the phone and attempted CPR when Presley was found unresponsive on January 12. She died of cardiac arrest, later revealed to be caused by a small bowel obstruction.
You Might Also Like
