was joined by grandmother during a recent trip to Graceland in honor of her mother, .
In support of Lisa Marie’s posthumously released memoir, From Here to The Great Unknown, Riley, 35 — who cowrote the book — has been traveling around the country for various talks with readers. She headed to Memphis, Tennessee on Saturday, October 12, for a talk hosted by.
The women took the stage at The Soundstage at Graceland, which was ’s home and estate. Both Lisa Marie and Riley wrote in the book about the house being a special place to them through the years. Having the Presley family aura so strongly in the air at this location, it was no surprise that Priscilla, 79, joined Riley on stage.
“I think we need another chair, because we have a surprise guest,” Riley told the crowd on Saturday, according to a video shared on Instagram. In the clip, fans watched as Riley prepared for her appearance, taking photos with her grandmother around Graceland. The pair held on to each other as they walked off the stage as well.
The pair covered a variety of topics, including the late Lisa Marie’s short-lived marriage to — which has its own chapter in From Here to The Great Unknown.
“Did you like Michael?” Priscilla asked. After Riley said she did, Priscilla asked again. “You did?”
Riley noted that she was only 6 years old when he was in her life. (Lisa Marie was married to Jackson from 1994 to 1996.)
While discussing the book, Richie, 43, was the one who got emotional — not Riley.
“Nicole’s crying — I’m supposed to be the one crying,” the Daisy Jones & The Six star quipped, noting that she doesn’t know if the book has given her “closure” like everyone keeps discussing. (Lisa Marie died in January 2023 at age 54.)
“People keep saying, like, wow, your family, there’s so much tragedy,” Riley said on Saturday. “It’s actually a very common story.”
Riley explained that she chose to return to Graceland on the book tour because it was one of Lisa Marie’s favorite places. (Elvis died in the Tennessee mansion at age 42 in 1977.)
“Even though she did lose her father here, I think that she felt a sense of freedom here and actually a sense of closeness to him here,” Riley said of her mother. “It’s always been a place that’s emotionally complicated because there’s so much joy and closeness here but also there’s loss, as well. … But I think that’s the experience for a lot of people who come here.”
