Riley Keough talks about life with stepfather Michael Jackson

Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley and daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, has spoken about her mother’s marriage to the “King of Pop” Michael Jackson.

During an Oct. 10 appearance on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, Keough opened up about what her life was like when her mother was married to Jackson from 1994 to 1996.

“I mean, from my perspective – I understand my life wasn’t normal, but to me it just felt normal,” Keough said. “Looking back, I understand it was a big deal for them together, but it felt completely normal. They lived together and took me to school and, you know, just the normal married stuff.”

Keough also shared the name she would call her stepfather: “Mimi.”

The 35-year-old actress worked with her mother on her mother’s memoir, “From Here to the Great Unknown,” before Lisa Marie Presley’s death last year. Keough worked to complete the book, released Oct. 8, with Lisa Marie Presley’s notes and voice recordings following her mother’s death.

The audiobook of the memoir is read by Julia Roberts and Keough shared what it was like listening to it for the first time.

“It was an emotional journey,” she said. “I just listened to the audio book for the first time yesterday, it was great. And the amazing thing about it was that I could actually listen to it as a story and step back because Julia was talking.”

“So I could listen as a listener and it wasn’t so personal because I’ve been listening to my mom’s tapes for about a year to make this book,” she continued. “It was extremely emotional but also very gratifying and just very grateful to have it and to be able to publish your family’s story. It’s a privilege.”

In the book, Lisa Marie Presley recounts how she first met Jackson around the age of six when the Jackson 5 were playing a show near her father’s gig at the Hilton in Las Vegas, although she has no memory of it.

The couple got back together in 1993 while she was still married to her first husband, Danny Keough, she wrote in the book. Later, Jackson asked her to come to Las Vegas again and after spending a few days there, he asked her to come to his hotel room and he turned off the lights.

“And in the darkness, Michael said, ‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve fallen completely in love with you. I want us to get married and for you to have my children.’ Then he played me a song about how he was feeling and when he finished he said, ‘You don’t have to say anything, I know I upset you, but I really want to be with you.'” , she wrote in the book.

“I didn’t say anything right away, but finally I said, ‘I’m really so flattered, I can’t even speak.’ “I had already felt that I was in love with him too,” she continued. “I had told him that my marriage was in serious trouble.”

Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough divorced in 1994 and she married Jackson 20 days later, the book says.

Riley Keough wrote in the book that she called Jackson “Mimi” because her brother Benjamin Keough couldn’t pronounce his name.

Lisa Marie Presley died on January 12, 2023 at age 54, officials said at the time.

“It is with a heavy heart that I share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” her mother, Priscilla Presley, said in a statement to NBC News. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we attempt to deal with this difficult loss. Thank you for the love and prayers. There will be no further comment at this time.”

She died as a result of a small intestine obstruction, according to an autopsy report from the Los Angeles Medical Examiner reviewed by TODAY.com.

A small intestinal obstruction occurs when part of the small intestine is blocked. According to the autopsy report, her obstruction was “caused by adhesions (bands of scar tissue) that developed after bariatric surgery years ago.”

The report states that “the problem is a known long-term complication” of bariatric surgery or a type of weight loss surgery.