USA TODAY International Edition
‘ Daisy,’ Keough share rock backstories
Riley Keough is stepping into the spotlight with “Daisy Jones & the Six.”
The 10- part rock drama, streaming Fridays on Amazon Prime Video, chronicles the meteoric rise and drugfueled fall of a 1970s rock band fronted by charismatic but clashing lead singers Daisy Jones ( Keough) and Billy Dunne ( Sam Claflin).
Reese Witherspoon executive- produced the series, which is based on the best- selling novel, “Daisy Jones & the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which was highlighted in Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club.
The crowning rock glory selection, however, came with casting Keough, 33, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley and daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, as the rock band’s lead singer.
Here’s what to know about actress Keough.
Lisa Marie Presley was the only child of rocker dad Elvis and Priscilla Presley, who divorced in 1973. Keough was born in 1989 during Lisa Marie’s first marriage to musician Danny Keough. She never met her famous grandfather, who died at age 42 in 1977, when Lisa Marie was only 9.
Nor did Keough meet Austin Butler after the actor was cast to play her famous grandfather in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic “Elvis.” However, Keough said during an appearance on “Live With Kelly and Ryan” that seeing Butler’s Oscar- nominated performance “blew me away.”
“I couldn’t have imagined anyone being able to pull off what he did in terms of embodying my grandfather,” said Keough, who has since met with Butler. “I was in tears for a week because of the film, but also because of his performance.”
Lisa Marie’s death is part of the Presley family heartache
Lisa Marie, who also was married to Michael Jackson from 1994- 96, became Elvis’ sole heir and also inherited her father’s Graceland residence following his death. Lisa Marie died at age 54 on Jan. 12 of cardiac arrest and was laid to rest at Graceland on Jan. 22.
Two weeks after her daughter’s death, Priscilla Presley, 77, filed legal papers challenging Lisa Marie’s will. According to court documents, Priscilla disputes the validity of a 2016 living
trust amendment that removed her and a former business manager as trustees and replaced them with Lisa Marie’s two oldest children, Keough and her brother, Benjamin.
Benjamin Keough died at age 27 in 2020, leaving Riley the sole trustee. She has not commented on the dispute.
Keough’s acting career includes ‘ Mad Max,’ ‘ Girlfriend Experience’
Keough made her film debut at 20, co- starring with Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning in the 2010 musical biopic “The Runaways.” She appeared in “Magic Mike” and made a big- budget splash in “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
In 2016, Keough had her breakthrough role as an escort in the first season of Steven Soderbergh’s series “The Girlfriend Experience.” She won critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award for the drama “American Honey.”
Keough sings for the first time
Keough said singing publicly for the first time in “Daisy Jones” did not come naturally, despite her pedigree. She could carry a tune and submitted a “sort of soft” song for her audition, but was told she needed to belt out the lyrics to play the band’s frontwoman.
“I sounded awful the first few times I tried,” Keough said.
Keough, Claflin and their “Six” band co- stars ( including Suki Waterhouse, who plays keyboardist Karen Sirko), took part in a rock band camp, which lengthened because of the pandemic.
“The last couple of weeks of band camp, I was like, ‘ Guys, we don’t need to do this anymore. Like, we sound great,’ ” Keough said.
She sings the vocals for the “Daisy Jones” series and the soundtrack, which features 26 original songs.
Keough’s husband has a cameo
Keough met her Australian stuntman husband, Ben Smith- Petersen, while filming “Mad Max: Fury Road.” They have been married since 2015.
Speaking to Seth Meyers, Keough confirmed her husband has a cameo in the second episode of “Daisy Jones.” She said the show’s producers “thought it would be so funny” if her character’s one- night- stand was played by her actual husband.
“I think that they were thinking that it would be less awkward,” Keough said. “And then we got there and we were like, ‘ This is really uncomfortable.’ ”