Jerry Lee Lewis, the piano-pounding, foot-stomping singer who ignited early rock ‘n’ roll with singles like “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” has died at 87.
Lewis died at his house in Desoto County, Mississippi, south of Memphis. When reached via phone, his representative, Zach Farnum, said Lewis died of “natural causes.”
His seventh wife, Judith, was by his side when he died and Lewis “told her, in his final days, that he welcomed the hereafter, and that he was not afraid,” the statement added.
Lewis, along with Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and others, was a key personality of the 1950s rock period and a brilliant showman dubbed “The Killer,” whose raw, uncontrolled performances sent youthful admirers into fits.
“I was born to be on a stage. I couldn’t wait to be on it. I dreamed about it. And I’ve been on one all my life,” Lewis said in “Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story,” a 2014 biography by Rick Bragg. “That’s where I’m the happiest.” But offstage, the singer’s personal life was turbulent. Lewis was near the peak of his popularity in 1958 when the public learned that he had married Myra Gale Brown, his first cousin. She was 13 at the time; Lewis was 22.
The marriage became public in London, where Lewis had travelled to perform at a performance. Lewis informed the press that Myra was 15, but the truth eventually came out, causing a public outrage, with headlines such as “Fans Aghast at Child Bride.” Audiences heckled Lewis, and the tour was canceled after three shows.
Over the next decade, Lewis continued to record and tour, but his rockabilly songs didn’t sell in the Beatles era, and he couldn’t reclaim his early reputation – until he made an unusual comeback as a country artist.
“I want to be remembered as a rock-n-roll idol, in a suit and tie or blue jeans and a ragged shirt, it don’t matter, as long as the people get that show. The show, that’s what counts. It covers up everything,” he told Bragg.
“Any bad thoughts anyone ever had about you goes away. ‘Is that the one that married that girl? Well, forget about it, let me hear that song.’”
According to his agent, Lewis is survived by his wife, Judith Coghlan Lewis, his children Jerry Lee Lewis III, Ronnie Lewis, Pheobe Lewis, and Lori Lancaster, his sister Linda Gail Lewis, cousin Swaggart, and numerous grandkids, nieces, and nephews.