Jerry Lee Lewis, the unstoppable pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll, passed away on Friday morning (local time, Saturday morning NZT) at the age of 87. His outrageous talent, energy, and ego collided on such classic records as Great Balls of Fire and Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On and sustained a career that would have otherwise been destroyed by personal scandal.
Lewis, the final surviving member of a generation of ground-breaking musicians that also included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, passed away at home in Memphis, Tennessee, according to a statement from his agent Zach Farnum. The news was released two days after a false TMZ report—later retracted—that said he had passed away.
Few rock rebels of the 1950s were able to portray the allure and danger of the new music as vividly as the pianist from Louisiana who went by the moniker “The Killer.”
It was preferable to reserve tender ballads for the elderly. Lewis, with his leering tenor and demanding asides, furious tempos and aggressive glissandi, confident smile, and crazy blond hair, was all about lust and pleasure.
He was a one-man stampede who made the fans scream and the keyboards swear, his live act so combustible that during a 1957 performance of Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On on The Steve Allen Show, chairs were thrown at him like buckets of water on an inferno. ”
Rockabilly was present.
Elvis was present. But Jerry Lee Lewis was the first to introduce authentic rock ‘n’ roll, according to a Lewis fan. It was Jerry Lee Lewis who admired him.
But in his private life, he erupted in ways that almost brought an end to his career at the time and could have done so now.
For a brief time, in 1958, he was a contender to replace Presley as rock’s prime hit maker after Elvis was drafted into the Army.
But while Lewis was on tour in England, three negative things were revealed to the media: He was still married to his first wife while still being married to his cousin, Myra Gale Brown, who was 13 years old (or perhaps even just 12). His tour was canceled, he was blacklisted from the radio and his earnings dropped overnight to virtually nothing.
When questioned about the marriage in 2014, Lewis told the Wall Street Journal, “I definitely would have rearranged my life a little bit different, but I never did hide anything from anyone. I simply carried on living my life as usual.
Lewis battled physical ailments, legal issues, and drug and alcohol abuse during the ensuing decades.
Two of his many marriages ended in his wife’s early death.
Early in the 1970s, Brown herself got a divorce from him, and she later said that he had been abusive to her physically and mentally to the point where she was on the verge of committing suicide.
She told People magazine in 1989, “If I were still married to Jerry, I’d definitely be dead by now.”
The songs and performances that have endured the longest include Great Balls of Fire and Whole Lotta Shakin’, a sexualized interpretation of biblical imagery that Lewis first resisted recording.
Lewis only had a few other pop songs, such as High School Confidential and Breathless, but they were sufficient to cement his reputation as the father of rock ‘n’ roll.
According to John Lennon, no band—not the Beatles, Dylan, or Stones—ever performed a song better than Whole Lotta Shakin’ in 1970.
Jerry Lee Lewis, a notorious rock and roll icon, passes away at age 87.
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