The Astrology of the New Queen of Graceland: Riley Keough

As the world commemorates Elvis Presley's ninetieth birthday this January in Graceland, a new chapter unfolds in the legendary Presley saga. Danielle Riley Keough, the eldest grandchild of the King, has not only inherited her grandmother's iconic beauty but also her grandfather’s undeniable star quality. With her achievements as an actress and director, and the poignant publication of her mother Lisa Marie Presley's memoirs, From Here to the Great Unknown; Keough is poised to become the next great Presley to captivate the world. But what does astrology reveal about the new queen and her family lineage?

At age thirty-five, Riley Keough is entering the prime years of her acting and filmmaking career. Could we expect to find an astrological imprint of Elvis’ fame on his descendants? Did Riley inherit any placements indicating a natural talent for the spotlight? Keough’s recent success with the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival for her directorial debut of War Pony hints at some exciting possibilities for her future in filmmaking.

Lisa Marie’s Memoirs

Lisa Marie Presley

When Lisa Marie died in 2023, Riley experienced an exact Mars transit to her natal Sun, and Mercury was retrograde over her first house stellium.

Riley’s relationship with her mother was indeed complex. Nonetheless, in her mother’s memoirs Riley describes admiring her mother’s authenticity and independence, despite the challenges Lisa Marie faced with addiction.

A year and a half following her mother’s death, Keough experienced a Mars return at the time of the publication of Lisa Marie’s memoirs this October, along with a Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct the Natal Mars. Riley was actively touring and speaking, doing interviews with Drew Barrymore and Oprah. Discussing the role that addiction played in their lives highlights Mars in the 8th House and Neptune in Pisces in the 4th House. Keough also experienced a recent Jupiter return this December, setting off a new twelve year cycle of learning, growth, and expansion along with Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct the Mars return.

Chart taken for the time of publication of her mother’s memoirs that Riley Keough co-authored with her mother.

But, let’s go back in the family lineage a few steps, starting with the King himself, Elvis Presley.

Riley Keough’s Grandfather, Elvis Presley, from Modern Screen 1958

Riley Keough and Elvis Presley

Riley Keough and her Grandfather, Elvis Presley share a similar Sagittarius rising, if birth times are correct, Elvis at 12 Sag, Riley at 13 Sag. Elvis is a Capricorn Sun/Pisces Moon, climbing the mountain of success in the entertainment business, while his Pisces Moon reflects the close relationship he had with his mother. Riley is a Gemini Sun/Aries Moon. Her mother, and Elvis’ only child, Lisa Marie, exemplified freedom and authenticity to Riley, both qualities of Aries.

Between grandfather and granddaughter, Riley’s Mars in Cancer opposes Elvis’ Sun in Capricorn and this opposition shows up in several key life events for Keough.

In addition to the publication of the memoirs occurring along this Mars in Cancer point, Riley shares the same degree of Mars with her younger brother, Ben Keough, who tragically committed suicide in 2020 and the transiting Sun was at 19 Cancer on the very day of her brother’s suicide. Ben’s death devastated everyone, but especially Riley’s mother, Lisa Marie, and the lasting echo of this “karmic family degree” of Cancer-Capricorn keeps ringing.

Given all of this, the range of 17-19 degrees Cancer/Capricorn is a sensitive range of degrees for the Riley, and the Presley family.

Photo by Michèle Eckert on Unsplash

“The last year of his life was rough. I knew that. I knew he was having all sorts of heartache. He wasn’t happy. As a result, he abused his body. It was that abuse that killed him. I don’t believe there was foul play. It’s simply that Elvis thought he was indestructible. We thought the same thing. After all, he was worshipped by a world of fans who treated him like a god. He was misunderstood by those around him, especially at the end. We underestimated his emotional pain. And he lacked the means to fully express that pain. "
- Priscilla Presley, from Elvis By the Presley’s, ISBN 0307237419

Lisa Marie was only nine years old when her father died and she was deeply impacted by her father’s death. Growing up the daughter of one of the world’s most famous and beloved rock stars impacted Lisa Marie’s development in profound irreversible ways. But, Lisa Marie was also a very committed mother to Riley and her siblings.

Keough’s Early Life

Riley Keough is the oldest child of Lisa Marie Presley and musician, Danny Keough. Danny Keough’s mother was the administrator of a school of Scientology in the northwest and Danny relocated to Los Angeles to pursue his music career. So Riley’s parents met through their mutual connection to Scientology. Lisa Marie and Danny married in October of 1988 and Riley was born May 29, 1989. Three years later, her brother Ben was born in Tampa, Florida. Her parents separated and divorced when Riley was just short of her fifth birthday in 1994. In magazine interviews, Lisa Marie claimed that the reason for their divorce was that Danny could not handle Lisa Marie’s power and wealth.

Lisa Marie went on to marry Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” only twenty days after divorcing Riley’s father. At the time, the media was awash with speculation about whether their marriage was a hoax or a public relations ploy. The memoir details some of the complexity of this event, shedding some light on the long-time relationship the pop star had with Lisa Marie. Riley experienced all of this as a young child.

Graceland, the estate of Elvis Presley

Lisa Marie later divorced Michael Jackson, followed by a short marriage to Nicholas Cage and a longer union with musician, Michael Lockwood. From her union with Lockwood, Lisa Marie had two twin daughters, Harper and Finley who are now sixteen years old. Harper and Finley will have their final Saturn opposition Jan 18, 2025, bringing their gauntlet period to a close. Following a recent legal settlement over the estate between Riley and Priscilla after Lisa Marie’s death, Riley was named the sole trustee for her half-sisters. Riley’s natal Saturn conjuncts her half-sisters’ natal Jupiter at 17 Capricorn (also Elvis’ Sun) pinging that sensitive family degree for the Presley’s and showing Riley’s responsibilities (Saturn) to her sisters.

Lisa Marie’s marriages and the media frenzy over them could be a whole Oprah special unto itself. I point it out simply because Riley was witness to these relationships, along with her mother’s public battle with addiction. Still, Keough seemed to overcome it. Having Saturn in the first house might have contributed to a stronger desire to rise out of the shadow of the Presley family drama and stand on her own accomplishments, something her brother Ben Keough struggled with his whole life according to some reports, with many articles citing his severe depression.

In the memoir, Keough claims a close relationship to her father, and describes wanting to grow up “poor like him.” She claims she enjoyed seeing how the other half lived, even while acknowledging it sounded patronizing. “My father was my mom’s biggest protector throughout her whole adult life. She had many friends that came and went, but he was there from when she was seventeen until the moment she died. He was the last person with her.” Danny Keough provided consistent friendship and grounding to Lisa Marie and her children, even moving back in with Lisa Marie following Ben’s suicide. Riley tells movingly how her father was the one who informed her of Lisa Marie’s passing.

As Riley grew into a young woman, Lisa Marie and her father Danny both tried to talk their daughter out of a life in the spotlight, but Riley took a natural interest in the entertainment industry. She began modeling at a very young age, never finishing formal schooling. Riley was homeschooled and she started auditioning for acting roles as early as age twelve. By age fifteen, she was modeling for Dolce Gabbana and was featured on the cover of popular magazines like Vogue, but Riley was more drawn to film.

The Gauntlet of Adolescence

There is a “gauntlet period” of astrological adolescence that Alex Trenoweth, astrologer-author of Growing Pains and Principal of the Rohini Academy of Astrology, defines as the time period between the first Jupiter return and the final Saturn opposition. This occurs around the ages of 11-15.

For Riley Keough, her astrological adolescence was coincident with her mother’s very short marriage to Nicholas Cage while Pluto transited her ASC. By the time Riley’s astrological adolescence was nearly complete at the final Saturn opposition, Lisa Marie divorced Nicholas Cage in May of 2004. In the memoir, Riley describes this time period as being a particularly difficult passage for her mother’s battle with addiction.

Following this, Pluto made its transit through Riley’s first house. As her career in film took off, transiting Pluto contacted Riley’s natal Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn in turn, supercharging her success.

Furthermore, as part of my practicum for Trenoweth’s Rohini Academy, I took a look at the gauntlet period of adolescence for the whole Presley family lineage, analyzing the adolescent periods of each member of the family. This technique entails determining whether a Jupiter Sextile or a Uranus Sextile occurred first during the gauntlet time period between the first Jupiter return and final Saturn opposition. Trenoweth calls this the “Rebel or Scholar” question.

It is important to caution that there are many peculiarities when looking at the rebel or scholar question, but the potential of this technique could lie in supporting young people and their parents better during this vulnerable, adolescent phase of life.

I noted here that Elvis, Lisa Marie, Danny Keough, and Ben were all “rebels” by this technique. While Priscilla, Riley, and Harper and Finley were “scholars.” In addition, I noted that Elvis, Lisa Marie and Ben all had very short gauntlet phases, less than two years, while the others had phases of a longer, or very much longer period.
(see chart below)

Understanding this critical time period of life better from an astrological as well as from other standpoints, (physiological brain development and psychological) could positively impact the mental health crisis we see young people facing.

Young Adulthood and Riley’s Film Career

During Keough’s Pluto Conjunction to her Natal Uranus in 2010, she made her film debut as an actress at the age of twenty in the film, The Runaways. And, while the exact number of films she appeared in can vary depending on how you categorize certain appearances (e.g., short films, cameos), she has been in over 30 films. To get a better feeling for Keough’s body of work while researching this article, I watched her Amazon Prime series, Daisy Jones and the Six, for which she was nominated for an Emmy. It is the fictional story of musicians in a Fleetwood Mac-ish band in the 1970s that struggles with relationships and addiction. I personally found this story to be both believable and moving. As an added bonus, the music was also pretty good.

During Riley’s second Jupiter return, Pluto was on its way towards conjunction with her 11 Capricorn natal Neptune, the planet often associated with film. During that transit, Mad Max Fury Road began filming on June 2, 2012 and became a box office success. I re-watched this film, which I had originally seen in theaters on its release. And lastly, I took a look at Keough’s directorial debut film, War Pony, a story that takes place about a a twelve year old boy who is addicted to drugs on a modern day Native American reservation. What I learned from this sampling of her work is that Keough, who has a Gemini Sun, reaches into a wide variety of genres and roles in her work; and that ability to diversify seems to be one of her great strengths.

Marriage

It was during the shooting of Mad Max Fury Road that Riley met her husband, an Australian stuntman named Ben Smith-Petersen. They married on February 4, 2015.

Parenthood

In August 2022, two years after her brother’s death, Riley Keough and Ben Smith-Petersen announced the arrival of their daughter Tupelo-Storm via surrogate mother. Tupelo is the first great-grandchild of Elvis.

I could not find an exact date or time for the birth of Tupelo, but internet articles were announcing her arrival as of Aug 8^th of 2022. Venus was transiting Riley’s Mars at 19 Cancer on August 2, 2022, the same sensitive degree mentioned earlier. Uranus and the Nodes were sextile to Mars at 18 Taurus in Riley’s 5^th House. Jupiter was also making a transit to Riley’s natal moon while the surrogate pregnancy was transpiring. Lisa Marie (and Danny Keough) were present for this arrival of Tupelo before Lisa Marie’s death in early 2023.

If we assumed Tupelo’s birth was August 2, 2022 and took a noon birth time, she would have a Jupiter sextile in 2036 before her Uranus sextile a few months during the gauntlet phase, making her adolescent phase a “scholar” like her mother, aunts, and great-grandmother.

“She mothers my daughter through me.”
― Riley Keough, From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir

Riley Keough at Cannes 2014

What’s to Come

In June 2025, Uranus will be transiting Riley’s Mercury, the Ruler of Riley’s 10^th house of career, which could mean another big breakthrough for her this year or perhaps a sudden announcement of a new direction. Due to its retrograde cycles, Uranus will not clear her 6th house for several years, reaching her 7th house angle on May 15, 2029. But in the meantime, Uranus will join with her Mercury and Sun through its 6th house passage. Health issues may also become more important for Riley in this picture.

Looking far further into Riley’s future, her 2^nd Saturn Return will take place
Nov 19, 2048. Some very powerful transits occur then.

This period of her life would be the logical biographical timeframe to create a masterwork. Transiting Venus is conjunct her Natal Neptune while Saturn makes its second return. With Venus co-present I am interested to see her innovation on topics that relate to women, impacting how society sees women and/or how women see themselves. Her second Saturn return features transiting nodes near ASC, and another brush to her natal Mercury by opposing Mercury, the ruler of her 10^th house. Uranus opposes Pluto, Mars opposes her Sun, and Saturn and Venus line up on that sensitive Cancer/Capricorn point for the family. It seems in this picture nothing is left off the table.

With this powerful family lineage, astrological profile and a strong determination to forge her own path, Riley Keough is undoubtedly destined for greatness on her own terms. As she navigates the complexities of her family history and embraces the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, the celestial bodies seem to align in her favor at several important life junctures. The future holds some exciting possibilities, and we can only speculate on the heights she will reach as a filmmaker and actress. The remaining Presley women of the family, including Grandmother Priscilla, Riley, her twin half-sisters Harper and Finley, and little Tupelo-Storm (all “Scholars” using Trenoweth’s technique), will continue to carry the torch onward for the Presley family while Riley Keough reigns as the New Queen of Graceland.

For further reading about the Presley’s, check out this link at Biography.com
To find out more about the astrological adolescence technique, or for more information about the Rohini Academy of Astrology, go to Alex Trenoweth’s Site.