How Riley Keough paid tribute to her grandfather Elvis Presley in ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’
The story behind Daisy Jones & The Six feels ripped from the pages of rock and roll’s past. As a humble rock band starts gigging around California, they hit their big break when they start collaborating with solo star Daisy Jones, creating ample onstage chemistry and some romantic tension along the way. Although there are some obvious parallels between the titular band and Fleetwood Mac, one cast member has her roots in rock and roll royalty.
Aside from her acting chops, Riley Keough’s main claim to fame has been her grandfather, Elvis Presley. While ‘The King of Rock and Roll’ and the music on the show might be taking place in two completely different timelines, Keough did pay tribute to her late grandfather in one of her first episodes.
When Daisy Jones is having some trouble coming up with songs, she gets increasingly pissed off when she finds out that other powerful men in the music industry have been using her lines in other tracks. Wanting to get a song of her own, Jones starts increasing her writing level, eventually debuting some of her songs to a great reception in an almost empty bar.
Once she gets her big break in front of a crowd, Jones plays an acoustic guitar throughout the song, which the prop department made sure to recreate a guitar strap that Presley wore during his prime. Dubbed ‘The New Yorker’, this strap was used during Presley’s comeback and has also been used by rock and roll legends like Jimi Hendrix, who sported it prominently during his performance at Woodstock.
When discussing getting the right wardrobe for the show, designer Denise Wingate talked about working with famed designer Love Melody, who had previously worked with Presley. “She actually made two jumpsuits for Elvis Presley, so I had her make two beautiful, long coats for the show,” Wingate told People, “One is a denim leather patchwork long coat and the other a beautiful rust leather. She made those. I thought it was nice to bring that back in the fold and have a little bit of that history”.
Keough also gave the performance a personal touch, using her own guitar when performing her songs in the show. Along with her ancestor’s massive impact on rock music, Keough also mentioned pulling from people like Jimi Hendrix when sculpting her look for the character, telling Porter, “I was like, ‘I’m not going to exclusively look at women; I want to look at Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix’. I pulled influence from men because I felt like Daisy was ahead of her time in terms of how open and how willing she was to go into a space and be confident. I think that was really hard for women to do”.
Keough’s attitude towards her performance matches her character, refusing to take no for an answer based on any sexist connotations. No matter what gender she is, Keough is showing the world that she can kick ass behind the mic and is using some of the relics of the past to do it.
