Danny Keough, the father of Elvis Presley’s late grandson Benjamin, has been seen for the first time in years as he mourns the death of his son with his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley.
Keough, a former musician, was pictured outside the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday with Benjamin’s girlfriend Diana Pinto, four days after the suicide of his 27-year-old son.
Lisa Marie has reportedly been holed up inside the hotel since Benjamin shot himself in the head at the family’s $1.8 million mansion in Calabasas Sunday morning, and is said to be inconsolable.
Danny Keough has been seen for the first time in years as he mourns the death of his son with his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley
Keough (left) was pictured outside the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday with Benjamin’s girlfriend Diana Pinto (far right). He was spotted in a black t-shirt, sunglasses and baseball cap speaking to his late son’s girlfriend
Neighbors said they overheard Siana screaming ‘don’t do it’ at the Presleys’ Calabasas mansion at around 3am on Sunday morning as Benjamin locked himself in the bathroom with a shotgun
The grieving father, 55, who was married to Lisa Marie for six years until 1994, is also parent to Benjamin’s sister, singer Riley Keough.
He was spotted in a black t-shirt, sunglasses and baseball cap speaking to his late son’s girlfriend, who neighbors said they overheard screaming ‘don’t do it’ at the Presleys’ Calabasas mansion at around 3am on Sunday morning as Benjamin locked himself in the bathroom with a shotgun.
Diana was overheard by neighbors hours later telling police she was worried Lisa Marie would ‘blame her’ and ‘hate her’ for failing to stop the suicide.
But Lisa Marie appeared to be leaning on Diana in the midst of her heartbreak, with the two seen holding hands as they left the hotel together on Wednesday.
Like his son, Danny has remained out of the limelight for decades and has not been pictured in public for years.
He had grown up in the Church of Scientology, and the couple met at the organization’s Celebrity Center in Hollywood, where Lisa Marie was living at the time.
Danny was working as a house musician at Mad Hatter Studios, owned by fellow Scientologist Chick Corea.
He and Lisa Marie began dating in 1985 and Danny played bass for her band.
He was thrust into the media spotlight in 1988 when the former couple made the shock announcement they were married.
Presley filed for divorce six years later while in the Dominican Republic. Just 20 days after the paperwork was finalized, she married Michael Jackson.
The grieving father, 55, was married to Lisa Marie for six years until 1994. He is pictured here with his son Benjamin in an undated photo
The former musician, 55, is also parent to Benjamin’s sister, singer Riley Keough (siblings pictured together in this undated photo)
Lisa Marie Presley is pictured with Benjamin’s father, Danny Keough, at a California theater in 1991 (left) and with Benjamin in 2010 (right)
After news of Bejamin’s death emerged, bereaved Lisa Marie’s representative told DailyMail.com: ‘She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter Riley. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life’
Benjamin (pictured in 2011), who kept a low profile like his father, was Lisa Marie’s only son
After they split, Keough remained close to both his children and his ex-wife, and in a 2003 interview Lisa Marie said Danny was her ‘best friend’.
‘Danny is my best friend, always has been, always will be,’ Lisa Marie told The Commercial Appeal. ‘I love him unconditionally, but we are not together. It’s not like that.’
The same year she told Rolling Stone Magazine: ‘He’s my absolute best friend in the world. The smartest thing I’ve ever done is have children with this man because I knew this is the one man I could be connected to for the rest of my life.’
Their daughter Riley has previously said she and her brother grew up seeing both sides of the tracks – the wealth of her multi-millionaire mother, the sole heir to Elvis Presley’s estate, and her father’s modest living.
‘[We] grew up very privileged with my mother, but my dad didn’t live like that. And I think experiencing both sides has been helpful,’ Riley said in a 2017 interview with the Guardian. ‘My father had mattresses on the floor of his apartments. He lived in cabins and trailer parks. He just didn’t have much money.
‘When I was like eight I told him, ”I want to grow up and be poor like you!” He was eating a bowl of cereal. I didn’t realize how wildly offensive that was!’
Danny posted on Instagram in 2015 about his financial struggles and his own dark thoughts, writing that he was driving from California to Nevada with just $30 in his wallet, hoping to turn it into $40,000 by gambling – but instead spending his last few greenbacks on a tank of gas and a sandwich.
‘You can strike it rich the moment your tire treads on Nevada dirt… Which got me to thinking, it’s only 4am. I have $30 in my wallet. I’d find a $2 blackjack table and turn it into $40,000,’ he wrote.
‘But then I noticed my gas gauge on empty and still another 50 miles to Vegas.
‘Subconsciously my car headed toward the casino. I parked, slammed the car door with authority and floated toward the casino entrance… But some negative vibe filled the air and then I unfortunately started thinking a bit darker or deeper or desperater.
Lisa Marie Presley was pictured out in Los Angeles on Wednesday, three days after the suicide of her 27-year-old son, Benjamin Keough. She was accompanied by Benjamin’s girlfriend, Diana Pinto
Lisa Marie is said to be inconsolable over her Benjamin’s death, with the pair known to be have been extremely close. She has been leaning on Diana in the days since her son’s suicide
‘I thought “Even though it was highly unlikely, it’s possible I might not make the $40,000.” And then it got worse; I could even possibly lose my golden stake of $30. Then no money, no gas, I’d be stuck in Primm… For three days… Until my next paycheck. It could be done. Sleep in the car beg a little.
‘After pausing a bit exchanging odd faces with the doorman, I did the unthinkably boring, the painfully correct thing. I got gas. But not just 3 gallons. I loaded in 4. And still with enough my wallet for two packaged turkey sandwiches at yet another 7/11 and even a glazed donut.’
Benjamin, who kept a low profile like his father, was Lisa Marie’s only son, and she described him as ‘the love of her life’.
In 2009, the pair got matching tattoos, and, in 2012, Lisa Marie penned a song about Benjamin, titled Storm And Grace. Lyrics include the lines: ‘You are the most beautiful man that I’ve ever known, Too much to offer and too much held close to the bone.
‘You have the most beautiful heart that I’ve ever known, It kills me you can’t ever show it and a shell has been grown’.
In an old interview, Lisa Marie also gushed over Benjamin’s striking resemblance to her famous father. ‘Ben does look so much like Elvis. He was at the Opry and was the quiet storm behind the stage. Everybody turned around and looked when he was over there. Everybody was grabbing him for a photo because it is just uncanny,’ she stated.
Benjamin had been dating Diana Pinto for at least a year, with the couple sharing several loved up selfies to social media. Diana is pictured in a selfie with Benjamin in a photo shared to Instagram last year
After news of Bejamin’s death emerged, bereaved Lisa Marie’s representative told DailyMail.com: ‘She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter Riley. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.’
Benjamin had been dating Diana Pinto for at least a year, with the couple sharing several loved up selfies to social media.
Diana was at home on Sunday night, when Benjamin had locked himself in a bathroom of the five bed, three-bathroom luxury property and took his own life.
DailyMail.com revealed Monday that neighbors heard a woman screaming ‘don’t do it’ at around 3.30am Sunday.
It’s believed that scream came from Diana. Neighbors said people were partying at the home at 1am and heard screams around 3.30am. They noted police showed up to the home hours later around 6am.
Diana was interviewed by police, with a neighbor explaining: ‘She was pretty hysterical saying ”I can’t believe it.” She just kept swearing and saying, ”I can’t believe it… I can’t believe he would do that to himself.”
‘She said, ”the family’s going to hate me” and ”they’re going to blame me.” I think she was feeling guilty for it happening.’