Keough was born on May 29, 1989, at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.^[6] She is the eldest child of singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley (1968–2023) and musician Danny Keough;^[6] Keough is also the eldest grandchild of Elvis Presley and actress and businesswoman Priscilla Presley.^[7] Keough's father met her mother at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre and later played bass in Presley's band.^[8][9] She had a brother, Benjamin Storm Keough (1992–2020),^[10] and has two half-sisters from her mother's fourth marriage, to Michael Lockwood.^[11] Her maternal grandmother, Priscilla, is of part Norwegian descent.^[12] Keough's paternal grandmother, Janet Hollander, co-founded the Delphian School and served as its dean from 1995 to 2011.^[8][13]

When Keough was five years old, her parents divorced, and her mother was briefly married to Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1996.^[9] Of her upbringing, Keough said that she "grew up very privileged with my mother, but my dad didn't live like that. And I think experiencing both sides has been helpful. My father had mattresses on the floor of his apartments. He lived in cabins and trailer parks. He just didn't have much money... Actually, my memories of growing up with him were so colourful and eccentric and fun. It was a good vibe, you know? When I was like eight I told him, 'I want to grow up and be poor like you!' He was eating a bowl of cereal. I didn't realize how wildly offensive that was!"^[9]

Keough was raised primarily by her father in Hawaii and Los Angeles,^[14] though she at times lived at her mother's Los Angeles home, as well as at the Graceland Estate in Memphis, Tennessee, which her mother inherited following her grandfather Elvis's death.^[9] She is now the sole guardian of the estate and presides over the sub-trusts of her siblings, each inheriting one-third of their mother's estate including Graceland and the Elvis estate.^[15]

In 2002, when Keough was 13 years old, her mother married actor Nicolas Cage,^[9] though this marriage was also short-lived, lasting 107 days before Cage filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized in May 2004.^[16] For a time, Keough attended a public school in the San Fernando Valley, but was ultimately homeschooled due to her having to frequently travel between her parents' homes.^[9]

Prior to beginning a film career, Keough began modeling at age 15, appearing in the Autumn/Winter 2004 ready-to-wear show for Dolce & Gabbana, followed by the Christian Dior ready-to-wear show for the Spring/Summer 2005 collection.^[17] Keough subsequently appeared on the United States cover of Vogue in August 2004.^[17] In 2005 she appeared on four magazine covers: Japanese Elle magazine, Korean Vogue, the French magazines Jalouse, and L'Officiel.^[17]

In 2010, at the age of 20, Keough made her film debut in The Runaways based on the 1970s all-girl rock band of the same name.^[18] Keough portrayed the role of Marie Currie, sister to the band's lead singer Cherie Currie, portrayed by Dakota Fanning. The film also starred Kristen Stewart and Tatum O'Neal and premiered in 2010 at the Sundance Film Festival to favorable reviews.^[19]

In April 2011, Keough starred as the female lead in the drama The Good Doctor alongside Orlando Bloom and Taraji P. Henson.^[20] Keough portrayed Diane Nixon, a young patient with a kidney infection who is kept ill to make her doctor gain the respect he craves. The film received mixed reviews from critics.^[21] In May 2010, she replaced actress Olivia Thirlby as the protagonist in the werewolf drama Jack & Diane alongside Juno Temple, who portrayed her love interest.^[22] Filming took place in New York City, and in May 2011 Magnolia Pictures picked up the film for distribution; it was released theatrically in November 2012.^[23]

In September 2011, Keough joined the Steven Soderbergh film Magic Mike, alongside Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer, about a group of male strippers. Keough portrayed the role of Nora, a young stripper. The film was released in June 2012.^[24] Keough then co-starred in the independent drama Yellow, alongside Sienna Miller, Luke Wilson and David Morse,^[25] followed by a supporting role opposite Milo Ventimiglia in the independent vampire film Kiss of the Damned, which premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival.^[26]

On August 4, 2013, the Australian fashion brand Bonds announced that Keough had been signed as "Summer 2013 ambassador".^[27] In October 2013, Keough co-starred in the video for Justin Timberlake's "TKO", portraying a bitter girlfriend who knocks out Timberlake and ties him to the back of a pickup truck, dragging him through the desert and throwing him off a cliff.^[28]

Keough appeared in director So Yong Kim's short film Spark and Light commissioned by fashion brand Miu Miu in 2014.^[29] The actress had a supporting role as a woman called Capable in Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth installment of the Mad Max series.^[30][31] The film was released in May 2015 to critical and commercial success.^[32]

In December 2015, Dixieland was released by IFC Films, in which Keough starred as a woman living in a Mississippi trailer park who becomes embroiled in a crime. The film had previously screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2015.^[33]

In January 2016, Keough's following film, the lesbian drama Lovesong, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.^[34] Keough reunited with director So Yong Kim for the film, in which she co-starred with Jena Malone as two best friends who fall in love with each other.^[34] Keough had her breakthrough role^[35] portraying a law student-turned-escort in the first season of the anthology series The Girlfriend Experience, based on the film of the same name from director Steven Soderbergh.^[36] The 13-episode series premiered on Starz on April 10, 2016.^[37] Her performance in The Girlfriend Experience garnered rave reviews and awards buzz from critics.^[38][39][40] She went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.^[41][42]

Also in 2016, Keough appeared in Andrea Arnold's drama film American Honey, alongside Shia LaBeouf. The film premiered in competition at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize.^[43][44] Keough received praise for her role in the film, and received a nomination at the Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Female.^[45] The same year, she appeared in The Discovery directed by Charlie McDowell.^[46][47] It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2017, and was released on March 31, 2017, by Netflix.^[48][49] Her next film release was the drama We Don't Belong Here (2017), filmed in 2014, in which she starred as the daughter of a dysfunctional family alongside Catherine Keener and Anton Yelchin.^[50] Keough's subsequent film was It Comes at Night, an apocalyptic-themed horror film, in which she starred opposite Joel Edgerton and Christopher Abbott, and directed by Trey Edward Shults.^[51] The film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom and United States in the early summer of 2017.^[52]

In August 2017, it was announced that Keough had launched her own production company called Felix Culpa with producer Gina Gammell. The duo also announced plans to adapt three novels, including: Sweet Lamb of Heaven: A Novel, the graphic novel Heartthrob, and The Curse of Beauty: The Scandalous & Tragic Life of Audrey Munson, America's First Supermodel.^[53] That same month saw the release of Steven Soderbergh's heist comedy Logan Lucky, in which Keough portrayed Mellie Logan.^[54]

In 2018, Keough appeared in a number of films, including the independent drama-thriller Welcome the Stranger,^[55] followed by the Netflix-released thriller Hold the Dark, directed by Jeremy Saulnier,^[56] and the Barry Levinson-directed television film Paterno, a biographical film about Joe Paterno released through HBO in April 2018.^[57] In May 2018, Keough debuted two films at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival: Lars von Trier's controversial psychological horror film The House That Jack Built,^[58] which was subsequently given a limited release in the United States by IFC Films,^[59] and David Robert Mitchell's neo-noir Under the Silver Lake,^[60] which was given a limited release in April 2019.^[61]

Next, Keough starred in the lead role in the psychological horror film The Lodge (2019),^[62] portraying a woman raised in a cult.^[63] The film, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival before being released theatrically in February 2020, garnered Keough praise, with Michael Roffman of Consequence of Sound deeming it a "career-best performance".^[63] Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times also lauded her performance as the film's "strongest asset. [Keough] can seize and hold the screen with electrifying force."^[64] Keough subsequently had a lead role opposite Alicia Vikander in the thriller film Earthquake Bird, directed by Wash Westmoreland and based on the 2001 novel of the same name,^[65] which premiered at the British Film Institute in October 2019^[66] before being released digitally via Netflix in mid-November 2019.^[67]

In early 2019, Keough was cast in the Netflix-produced psychological thriller The Devil All the Time, based on Donald Ray Pollock's 2011 novel of the same name.^[68] The project began filming in Alabama in the spring of that year, and premiered on Netflix in September 2020.^[69] On November 19, 2019, it was announced that Keough had joined the cast of the upcoming Amazon series Daisy Jones & the Six in a leading role, portraying a rock musician in the 1970s.^[70] She performed lead vocals on the album Aurora, the fictional album recorded by the band, which was released on March 1, 2023. In January 2020, the comedy-drama Zola, co-starring Keough as Stefani, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.^[71]

In 2022, Keough co-directed and produced with Gina Gammell War Pony, which had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in May 2022.^[72] It won the Caméra d'Or award for best first feature.^[73] Keough also produced the 2023 film Manodrome as part of her production company, Felix Culpa.^[74]

In January 2024, Keough said that she finished writing her mother Lisa Marie Presley's memoir, which was based on autobiographical audiotapes Presley recorded.^[75][76][77] The memoir was initially set to be released on October 15, 2024.^[77] Keough, along with Julia Roberts, provided the narration for its audiobook version.^[78] On June 4, 2024, it was revealed that the memoir would be titled From Here to the Great Unknown, and would credit both Keough and her mother as the book's authors.^[79] From Here to the Great Unknown would be released on October 8, 2024.^[80]

In October 2024, Keough made a surprise appearance at Chanel's Spring-Summer 2025 Ready to Wear show, where she performed a rendition of Prince's "When Doves Cry" during the show's closing.^[81] According to Keough, she received the invitation to perform only days before the show was scheduled to take place.

Keough dated singer Ryan Cabrera circa 2006. She was also engaged to her Magic Mike costar Alex Pettyfer in 2013. After breaking up with Pettyfer, she briefly reconnected with Cabrera.^[82]

In February 2015, Keough married Australian stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen in Napa, California,^[83] having announced their engagement the previous year.^[84] The couple had met while filming Mad Max: Fury Road.^[83] Their daughter, Tupelo Storm, was born in August 2022 via surrogate.^[85] She was named in tribute to Keough's maternal grandfather, Elvis Presley, who was born in Tupelo, Mississippi; and to Keough's deceased brother, Benjamin Keough, whose middle name was Storm.^[86] On September 17, 2025, it was revealed that they quietly welcomed their second child earlier in the year.^[1]

Keough was raised in the Church of Scientology. As of 2023, she identifies as spiritual and not affiliated with any church.^[4]

Keough's mother Lisa Marie Presley died from cardiac arrest and complications from a bariatric surgery on January 12, 2023, at age 54.^[87] At the memorial service, Smith-Petersen delivered a speech written by Keough on her behalf.^[85] On a primetime special titled The Presleys: Elvis, Lisa Marie and Riley, which aired on CBS on October 8, 2024, Keough spoke with Oprah Winfrey in her first public interview since her mother's death.^[88]

• Dundy, Elaine (2004). Elvis and Gladys (2nd ed.). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-634-4.