Riley Keough on life with stepdad Michael Jackson — and her nickname for him

Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley and daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, has opened up about her mother’s marriage to the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson. During an appearance on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Oct. 10, Keough shared what her life was like when her mother was married to Jackson from 1994 to 1996.

“I mean, my point of view — I understand that my life was not normal, but for me, it just felt normal,” Keough said. “In hindsight, I understand that it was a big thing of them together, but it felt very normal. They lived together and would take me to school and, you know, just the regular, married stuff.” Keough also shared the name she would call her stepfather: “Mimi.”

The 35-year-old actor worked with her mother on her mother’s memoir, “From Here to the Great Unknown,” before Lisa Marie Presley’s death last year. Keough worked to finish the book, which was published on Oct. 8, after her mother’s death with Lisa Marie Presley’s notes and voice recordings. The memoir’s audiobook is read by Julia Roberts, and Keough shared what it was like to listen to it for the first time.

“It’s been an emotional journey,” she said. “I actually just listened to the audiobook for the first time yesterday, so that was amazing. And what was amazing about it was that I was actually able to listen to it as a story and take a step back, ’cause Julia is talking.

“So I could listen as a listener, and it wasn’t as personal, because I’ve been listening to my mom’s tapes now to make this book for the last year or so,” she continued. “It’s been extremely emotional, but also very gratifying, and just very grateful to have it, and to be able to publish your family’s history. It’s a privilege.”

In the book, Lisa Marie Presley shared how she first met Jackson at around age 6 when the Jackson 5 were playing a show near her father’s performance at the Hilton in Las Vegas, though she doesn’t remember it.

The pair reconnected in 1993 while she was still married to her first husband, Danny Keough, she wrote in the book. Later, Jackson asked her to come to Las Vegas again, and after spending a few days there, he asked her to come into his hotel room and he turned out the lights.

“And in the darkness Michael said, ‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m completely gone in love with you. I want us to get married and for you to have my children.’ Then he played me a song about how he felt and when he finished, he said, ‘You don’t have to say anything. I know I’ve thrown you off, but I really want you. I want to be with you,'” she wrote in the book.

“I didn’t say anything immediately, but eventually I said, ‘I’m really so flattered, I can’t even talk.’ By then, I felt I was in love with him, too,” she continued. “I had told him that my marriage was in serious trouble.”

Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough divorced in 1994, and she married Jackson 20 days later, according to the book.

Riley Keough wrote in the book that she called Jackson “Mimi” because her brother, Benjamin Keough, couldn’t pronounce his name.

Lisa Marie Presley died at the age of 54 on Jan. 12, 2023, officials said at the time.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” her mother, Priscilla Presley, said in a statement to NBC News. “She was the most passionate strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers. At this time there will be no further comment.”

She died from the aftereffects of a small bowel obstruction, according to an autopsy report by the Los Angeles Medical Examiner reviewed by TODAY.com.

A small bowel obstruction occurs when part of the small intestine is blocked. Her obstruction was “caused by adhesions (bands of scar tissue) that developed after bariatric surgery years ago,” according to the autopsy report.

The report said that “the issue is a known long-term complication of” bariatric surgery, or a type of weight loss surgery.