In 2020, Riley Keough's younger brother died by suicide (via TMZ). For Keough, it was a devastating loss that forced her to rethink her relationship with grief. Keough told Variety, "When you're in grief ... everything for the first time hits you. It's like, 'Oh, I'm experiencing this in grief now.'" In a way, she had to relearn how to do everything from going grocery shopping to having a birthday to going to work.
The event coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and the release of "Zola." "It's definitely tainted with my own sadness, my own loss and grief from losing my brother, so it's definitely bizarre. Those things don't go away. We don't stop being in pain from grief," she explained to Elle.
A year after her brother's death, Keough posted a Instagram tribute, writing, "I miss you endlessly every day." She also posted on Instagram about becoming a death doula, explaining, "I think it's so important to be educated on conscious dying and death the way we educate ourselves on birth and conscious birthing." A death doula, according to The Guardian, is someone who guides people through both the spiritual and practical realities of dying.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
