Behind the gates of one of the most famous families in entertainment history was a childhood that Lisa Marie Presley later described in deeply painful terms. In From Here to the Great Unknown, the memoir completed with the help of her daughter Riley Keough, Lisa’s teenage years emerge as a turbulent story of grief, rebellion, addiction, family conflict, and experiences that left lasting emotional scars.
By the time Lisa was 10 years old, she was already carrying the unimaginable burden of losing her father, Elvis Presley. Gospel music became one of the strongest connections she had to him. A housekeeper named Ruby would drive Lisa to school while playing gospel songs in the car, and Lisa wanted to hear them because, in her mind, that was her father’s music. Elvis loved gospel, and for his daughter, those songs became more than music. They were a connection to a world that had disappeared when he died.
But as Lisa grew older, her life began to spiral.
She attended several schools, including Scientology-affiliated programs, but education never seemed to hold her attention. She skipped classes, ignored assignments, failed exams, and repeatedly found herself in trouble. Lisa later admitted that she had entered a period where she simply did not care about school, authority, or expectations. Pink Floyd’s The Wall became, in her words, almost like a personal Bible and autobiography.
Then came the drugs.
Lisa described becoming heavily involved with marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and other substances while she was still extremely young. Boarding schools were supposed to provide structure, but instead, she often found other teenagers struggling with the same problems. At Happy Valley School in Ojai, California, Lisa said she quickly began searching for drugs and continued skipping classes. She later admitted that, at one point, drugs seemed to be almost the only thing she wanted.
Yet beneath the rebellion was something much darker.
Lisa later reflected that she did not know what she wanted from life. She did not want to be at school, but she did not want to be at home either. In one of the most heartbreaking sentiments associated with this period, she essentially acknowledged that perhaps what she truly wanted was impossible: she wanted her father back.
Her relationship with Priscilla Presley was also deeply complicated. Lisa admitted that she gave her mother an extremely difficult time and recognized that Priscilla was trying to manage a troubled daughter. At the same time, Lisa described herself as deeply melancholy, angry, withdrawn, and emotionally lost. She felt that her mother did not know what to do with her.
The situation became even more disturbing because of Lisa’s experiences involving Michael Edwards, Priscilla’s longtime partner during part of Lisa’s childhood. In the memoir, Lisa described alleged incidents of inappropriate behavior and physical mistreatment that she said began when she was very young. She also recalled a home environment marked by intense arguments, screaming, thrown objects, and frightening confrontations.
According to the account presented in the memoir, these experiences became some of Lisa’s deepest childhood traumas. Riley Keough later reflected on how the events appeared to contribute to lasting feelings of shame, self-hatred, and distrust.
The chaos continued into Lisa’s teenage relationships. At just 14, she became involved with a significantly older man. The relationship eventually ended in what Lisa described as a devastating betrayal after photographs of the pair were sold to tabloids. The scandal and emotional collapse that followed pushed her into an even darker place.
Lisa later described taking a dangerous quantity of Valium during the aftermath, though she made sure someone saw what she had done and was subsequently taken to the hospital.
It was another devastating moment in a life that already seemed overwhelmed by loss.
Eventually, Lisa ended up at the Scientology Celebrity Center, where she initially continued partying before reaching a breaking point. After days of drug use, she recalled realizing that she could not continue living that way. Shaking, crying, and struggling to speak, she finally asked for help.
For a time, something unexpected gave her a new sense of purpose: caring for a young mother struggling with heroin addiction. Lisa was trusted with helping her navigate daily life, and the experience had a profound impact. For perhaps the first time, Lisa discovered that taking care of someone else made her feel useful.
“I really thrived taking care of her, helping somebody else,” she recalled.
That moment revealed another side of the rebellious teenager who had spent years running from schools, authority, family conflict, and emotional pain. Beneath the anger and destructive behavior was someone capable of deep compassion.
Chapter 3 of Lisa Marie Presley’s story is not simply about teenage rebellion. It is a portrait of a young girl growing up in the enormous shadow of Elvis Presley while privately struggling with grief, instability, addiction, betrayal, and trauma.
The daughter of the King of Rock and Roll had access to wealth, fame, and extraordinary privilege. But none of those things could protect her from emotional pain.
And perhaps the most shocking part of Lisa Marie’s story is this: while the world saw Elvis Presley’s only child, Lisa herself often seemed to feel like a lost little girl searching for the one person she believed could truly make everything feel safe again.
Her father was gone.
And for years afterward, Lisa Marie Presley appeared to spend her life trying to survive the emptiness he left behind.