Actress Riley Keough is letting fans see the fun and playful side of her late brother Benjamin Keough, who committed suicide on July 12 at the age of 27. Elvis Presley‘s oldest grandchild shared a series of deeply personal videos to her Instagram stories on July 27, showing the siblings having fun together around the holidays in 2019. In the first video, Riley and Benjamin were seen sitting on a sofa while smiling and chatting at the camera, though there’s no audio to be heard. In the next vid, Elvis lookalike Benjamin was dancing to the beat of some music, before getting embarrassed and putting his hand up to Riley’s phone and sweetly saying “stop” with a laugh.
Extremely private Ben was then seen playfully burying his head into the sofa as Riley sat next to him. He was wearing the identical grey Adidas logo hoodie as in the first video, and the couch was the same. Riley, 31, dated the photo as Dec. 25, 2019, so the extremely close brother and sister were spending what turned out to be their Christmas together.
In the next video, Riley showed Ben in the backseat of a car with her. He had black shorts and a grey long sleeve shirt and got adorably shy with his sister filming him, telling her “I’m just not in the mood right now. Stop.” The siblings werere later seen in a hotel room, as Ben took video of his sister having fun with chopsticks and a noodle bowl, with his deep laugh heard in the background.
Elvis’ only child Lisa Marie Presley‘s two oldest kids inherited their legendary late grandfather’s love of singing, as Riley was seen sitting on the sofa in one video, belting out the lyrics to U2‘s “Beautiful Day,”as Ben playfully poked her in the face. They were surrounded by pals in a lodge with a roaring fire as ABBA‘s “Dancing Queen” played, and Benjamin smiled and laughed. In another video, Riley and Benjamin sang along to Pink‘s “Just Like Fire,” as he made silly voices and playful movements with his hands.
Riley mourned her younger brother in a July 18 Instagram post, after she had six days to process her overwhelming grief. Next to a series of touching photos alongside her “best friend,” The Lodge star wrote, “Mornings are the hardest. I forget you’re gone. I can’t cry because of the fear that I will never stop. A pain that’s new to me.”
“You. There are no words for you. Angel is the closest I could think of. Pure light. Baby brother. Best friend. Wild man. Intellectual. Witness to my life. Twin soul. Protector,” Riley continued. “Too sensitive for this harsh world. I hope you give me strength to endure the giant hole you’ve left in my heart. I hope you give me the strength to eat. I hope you’re cradled in love. I hope you feel my love. I hope you feel god. You are god. I can’t believe you’ve left me. Not you sweet Ben Ben. Anyone but you. I guess this is true heartbreak. I hope we meet again.”
If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.