Riley Keough Reveals the Sweet Nickname Her Mom Lisa Marie Presley Gave Her Daughter Tupelo, 2 (Exclusive)
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09/26/2024 10:00 AM
The actress tells PEOPLE "it's a gift" she'll be able to share her mom's memoir 'From Here to the Great Unknown' with her daughter someday
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Riley Keough and Lisa Marie Presley in 2017Lisa Marie Presley had an adorable nickname for her 2-year-old granddaughter Tupelo.
In an exclusive excerpt of the late star's posthumous memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, featured in this week's PEOPLE cover story, Lisa Marie's daughter Riley Keough, Tupelo's mom, reveals that Lisa Marie "would call Tupelo our little light."
The news of Tupelo's birth was first revealed during Lisa Marie's memorial service at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., in January 2023, shortly after she died at age 54 from a small-bowel obstruction that developed following her bariatric surgery several years prior.
Riley, 35, had her husband, stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen, read the tribute she had written to her mom on stage, in which she said, "I hope I can love my daughter the way you loved me, the way you loved my brother and my sisters." A rep for Riley later confirmed that the Daisy Jones & the Six actress and her husband had indeed welcomed their daughter in 2022.
Tupelo is named after the Mississippi city Elvis was born in, and she shares the same middle name, Storm, as Riley's late brother Benjamin, who died by suicide at age 27 in 2020.
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To finish From Here to the Great Unknown, Riley listened to tapes of memories her mother had recorded.
"The tapes are an incredible portrait of the force of nature that she was," Riley tells PEOPLE in an email interview. "Depending on the day and her mood, she can sound locked-in or distracted, vulnerable and open or annoyed and closed off, hopeful, angry, everything. You hear her in all her complications."
Karen Dvorak
Riley Keough and Lisa Marie Presley in 1999As Riley readies for public attention to once again turn toward her mother's story, she's also looking ahead to the day that Tupelo can read it.
"This is one of the biggest privileges of the whole thing," she says. "Not everyone has a book to read about their grandparents. That's unique to our family. And it's really a gift."
From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie and Riley Keough comes out Oct. 8 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
For more on Riley Keough finishing her mom Lisa Marie Presley's powerful memoir, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.
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