Lisa Marie Presley’s pal recalls ‘frail’ singer ‘trying’ but struggling with son’s death before her own

Lisa Marie Presley struggled to accept her son’s death before she died.

“Since the loss of her son, Ben Storm [Keough], Lisa did not go out,” Jerry Schilling recalled in an interview with People on the one-year anniversary of the singer’s death Friday.

“I didn’t know she … was going to survive [his death].”

Keough was 27 when he died by suicide in July 2020, ultimately shaking his mother’s world.

“She survived that for two years because of the love and care for her three daughters,” Schilling continued.

Presley shared Benjamin and daughter Riley Keough, 34, with her first husband, Danny Keough.

She was also the mother to twins Harper and Finley, 15, with her fourth ex-husband, Michael Lockwood.

The late singer’s close friend Jerry Schilling recalled not knowing if she would survive after her son, Ben Keough, died by suicide in July 2020. Getty Images for Icelandic Glacial
Schilling told People that the “Lights Out” singer “did not go out” following the death of her son. Getty Images

After years of grieving, it wasn’t until the making of Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film, “Elvis,” featuring Austin Butler, that Presley decided to enter back into the spotlight.


For more Page Six you love …


“When we were flying back to Memphis for a screening, I met her at the airport. I hadn’t seen her since Ben Storm’s funeral,” the talent manager, 81, explained.

“She said to me, ‘Jerry, I will never be the same.’ She looked frail. But she was really trying.”

“I didn’t know she … was going to survive [his death],” the talent manager added. SplashNews.com

Schilling furthered he believes the support the “Lights On” singer received from Butler, Luhrmann and the film crew helped “bring her out.”

He explained he was a close friend of Lisa’s late father, Elvis Presley, and was at the hospital when her mom, Priscilla Presley, 78, gave birth to her on February 1, 1968.

At one point, Schilling said he was also Lisa’s manager as she took on the music industry.

Presley decided to return to the spotlight when Baz Luhrmann’s hit movie “Elvis” was released in 2022. Shutterstock for HFPA

Schilling even accompanied the “Lights Out” singer to the Golden Globes on January 10, 2022, to support the movie “Elvis,” which was up for three awards.

It would be one of the last times he would see Lisa, as she passed away just two days later.

“I get the call two days later to rush to the hospital. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t,” he shared.

The only daughter of Elvis Presley died in January 2023. Michael Ochs Archives

Presley died unexpectedly on January 12, 2023, of complications from a small bowel obstruction after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Small traces of opioids and antipsychotic drugs were found in her system but did not contribute to her death, per an autopsy report obtained by The Post.

The mom of four was laid to rest at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., alongside the King of Rock ’n’ Roll and her son, Benjamin.