Wild man of rock Jerry Lee Lewis dies aged 87
with his arrogant sneer, frenetic piano performances and debauched behaviour off-stage, he was the original wild man of rock ’n’ roll.
Jerry Lee Lewis, who has died aged 87, enjoyed a career as one of pop’s pioneers but his scandalous private life often threatened to overshadow his musical genius.
Lewis, best known for his 1950s hits Great Balls of Fire and whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, died at home in Mississippi with his seventh wife Judith by his side.
the cause of death was not revealed but he suffered a stroke in 2019. the artist, who called himself the Killer after he allegedly tried to throttle his school teacher, set the template for generations of pop stars.
John Lennon, Keith Richards and tom Jones all named him as an influence. Most notoriously Lewis had a secret third wife who turned out to be his 13-year-old cousin. Born in Louisiana in 1935 into a poor farming family who’d been illegal bootleggers, Lewis’s parents mortgaged their home to buy him his first piano.
‘My eyes almost fell out of my head,’ he recalled. he was later expelled from an evangelical school – ending his plans to became a piano-playing preacher. instead, he became a rock ’n’ roll pioneer, getting his first big break when he was 21 with an appearance on the prime time tV Steve Allen Show.
Overnight, his earning power shot from $100 a show to $10,000. he later named his son Steve Allen Lewis in tribute, but the child died tragically aged three when he drowned in a swimming pool. On stage, Lewis was untamed and primal. he would kick over his piano stool and play standing up – even on one occasion pouring petrol over his piano before setting it alight and hammering out Great Balls Of Fire as it burned.
Offstage, he earned an extensive criminal record that included assault, car theft and bigamy as well as a reputation for drug addiction and drunkenness.
while touring in the UK in 1958, the press discovered his recentlywed third wife, Myra Gale Brown, was not only his first cousin once removed but only 13. he was 22.
this may not have been so controversial in rural Louisana but there was uproar in Britain. the matter was even raised in the Commons and the tour was cancelled after only three dates. in
‘Young teen wife was also his cousin’
1976, he drunkenly rammed his car into the gates of Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion in Memphis, tennessee. when the police arrived, they found he had a loaded gun in the car. he strenuously rejected rumours that he’d been trying to kill his old friend.
Lewis reportedly bore a grudge against Presley for getting away with his relationship with future wife Priscilla Beaulieu, which began when she was only 14. that was hardly his only marital issue. his fourth wife, Jaren Pate, drowned in a swimming pool in 1982 while suing for divorce.
his fifth wife, Shawn Stephens, 23 years his junior, died of an apparent drug overdose in 1983.
within a year, Lewis married 21year-old Kerrie McCarver. She filed for divorce in 1986, accusing him of abuse and infidelity.