When Benjamin Keough walked into a room, people didn’t just see a young man. They saw a ghost.
With his striking blue eyes and that unmistakable pout, he was the spitting image of his grandfather, Elvis Presley. But being the "King’s" only grandson came with a weight most of us can’t fathom. On July 12, 2020, that weight became too much.
The news hit like a sledgehammer: Benjamin Keough cause of death was officially ruled a suicide. He was only 27.
He died in Calabasas, California, inside a home his mother, Lisa Marie Presley, had purchased just months earlier. The specific details released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office were clinical and cold. They confirmed he died from an "intraoral shotgun wound."
Basically, he took his own life in a way that left no room for survival. It was a violent end for a soul friends described as incredibly gentle.
The Night Everything Changed in Calabasas
It wasn't a public event. It happened in the quiet hours of a Sunday morning. Reports indicate his girlfriend, Diana Pinto, was at the residence when it happened. Around 6:30 a.m., authorities were called to the Alexandra Court property in a gated community.
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Imagine the scene. A $1.8 million mansion, meant to be a fresh start during the pandemic, suddenly turned into a crime scene.
Lisa Marie was reportedly "beyond devastated." Her representative told the press she was "inconsolable," which honestly feels like an understatement. Ben wasn't just her son; he was the person she felt most connected to in the world. They even had matching Celtic eternity knot tattoos on their feet to symbolize their permanent bond.
Why did it happen?
Friends later spoke out about the immense pressure Ben felt. Imagine trying to find your own voice when the world expects you to sound like the most famous singer in history. Brandon Howard, a musician and close friend, mentioned that Ben struggled with the "Presley family name pressure."
- The pandemic played a role.
- Being locked down intensified his existing depression.
- There was an unspoken expectation to be a musician or an actor.
He had a $5 million record deal at one point, but the music never really surfaced. He was a "searcher," someone trying to find an identity that wasn't tied to a jumpsuit or a guitar.
The Shocking Aftermath and the "Dry Ice" Reveal
If you think the story ends with the autopsy, you haven't heard what Lisa Marie revealed in her posthumous memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown. This is the part that sounds like a movie script but was her raw reality.
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She couldn't let him go. Literally.
Lisa Marie kept Benjamin’s body on dry ice in a separate "casitas" bedroom in her home for two months. She wasn't being macabre for the sake of it; she just couldn't decide where to bury him. Hawaii? Graceland? The decision felt too final.
"There is no law in the state of California that you have to bury someone immediately," she wrote.
She kept the room at 55 degrees. She visited him. She talked to him. It was a mother’s desperate attempt to hold onto a child who had already slipped away. Eventually, the family felt a "vibe" that Ben was ready to move on. He was finally laid to rest at Graceland, right across from his grandfather.
A Legacy of Grief
The tragedy didn't stop in 2020. Many fans believe Lisa Marie’s own death in 2023 was accelerated by a broken heart. While her official cause of death was a small bowel obstruction, the "soul-crushing" grief of losing Ben was something she wrote about constantly.
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She described herself as a "pariah" after his death. She felt the judgment of other parents. In an essay for People, she admitted to blaming herself every single day.
What we can learn from Ben’s story:
- Mental health doesn't care about your last name. Money and fame provide a safety net, but they don't cure clinical depression.
- The "27 Club" remains a tragic reality. Ben joined a list of legends who died at that specific age, though he sought a life away from the spotlight.
- Grief is non-linear. The way Lisa Marie handled his passing shows that there is no "right" way to process a loss that catastrophic.
If you or someone you know is struggling, reaching out is the only move. You can call or text 988 in the US and Canada, or 111 in the UK. The pressure of living up to an image—whether it’s a famous grandfather or a curated social media feed—is a heavy burden to carry alone.
Ben Keough was more than just a lookalike. He was a son, a brother, and a friend who simply ran out of air in the shadow of a giant.
To better understand the complexities of mental health in high-pressure environments, consider researching the impact of "legacy stress" on the children of high-profile figures. It's a niche but vital area of psychological study that sheds light on why stories like Ben's are tragically common.