Jerry Lee Lewis Dead at 87

Jerry Lee Lewis, piano-bashing rock ‘n’ roll founding father, swaggering country shouter and the last surviving member of the inaugural (1986) class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died. His death was announced on Friday (Oct. 28).

Lewis is known for recording such rock standards as “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Breathless” and “High School Confidential.” Both “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On” and “Great Balls of Fire” have been named to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Sometime collaborator Kris Kristofferson told USA Today that Jerry Lee Lewis is “one of the best American voices ever.” A 2022 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Lewis is one of just 16 people to have been inducted into both the Country and Rock and Roll Halls.

Lewis was born on Sept. 19, 1935, in East Louisiana to indigent parents Elmo and Mamie Lewis. He was brought up Christian and raised on a family farm in Ferriday that “produced more famous people per square mile than any other American small town.” The young Lewis taught himself to play piano at the age of 8 and sang gospel music in church. His two cousins, Mickey Gilley, who became a successful country singer, and Jimmy Swaggart, eventually a renowned TV evangelist, shared similar musical interests. Lewis’ formative influences included listening to the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts, which featured the likes of Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and Moon Mullican.

Lewis moved to Memphis in 1956 to audition for Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records and the man who first recorded Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. Phillips wasn’t there when Lewis arrived, so producer Jack Clement recorded Lewis’ debut single, a rockabilly version of Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms.” Lewis went on to work at the studio as a session musician, playing piano on numerous recordings including records by Cash, Billy Lee Riley (“Flyin’ Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll)” and Perkins (“You Can Do No Wrong” and “Your True Love”), among others. The Million Dollar Quartet sessions, recorded by Phillips, was the result of a spontaneous jam session at Sun involving Presley, Cash, Perkins and Lewis. He was also part of the legendary Class of ’55 album with Cash, Perkins, Elvis and Roy Orbison.

As a piano player, Jerry Lee had a very unique style, blending rockabilly, gospel, blues and country while feverishly banging away on the keys, his long blond hair flying around, as he jumped on the bench, a veritable whirling dervish, and unabashed rock star. “No one wanted to follow Jerry Lee onstage,” said Cash. “Not even Elvis.”

Jerry Lee Lewis was nicknamed “The Killer,” and his “wild” man performances were kinetic, filled with flamboyant flair as he pounded the higher keys with his right hand, kicking and standing on top of the piano, knocking over the bench and anything left standing on the stage. He even lit his piano on fire, making it impossible for anyone to upstage him, a forerunner of the likes of The Who and Jimi Hendrix.

Lewis’ rockabilly version of “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” first recorded by Big Maybelle, hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s country and R&B charts, as well as No. 3 on the (pre-Hot 100) pop chart in ’57.

 

In ’68 he transitioned into country, recording the top 10 hit “Another Place Another Time,” which reached No. 4 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Singles chart, as it was then called. Four subsequent singles reached No. 1 on that chart: “To Make Love Sweeter for You,” “There Must Be More to Love Than This,” “Would You Take Another Chance on Me” and a cover version of The Big Bopper’s 1958 smash “Chantilly Lace.” (The latter song brought Lewis his first Grammy nomination, for best country performance, male.) In 1981, he released “Thirty Nine and Holding” on Elektra Records and then briefly signed to MCA Records.

Lewis had six children by seven wives, and his personal life was marred by several tragedies. He married Dorothy Barton in ’52 when he was just 17 years old. They divorced in ’53, one month before he married Jane Mitchum, with whom he had two children, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. and Ronnie Guy Lewis. Jerry Lee Jr. died at 19 in 1973 in a car accident when his Jeep overturned. Lewis married Myra Gale Brown, his teenage cousin, and had two children, Steve Allen Lewis and Phoebe Allen Lewis. Steve drowned when he was 3 years old in 1962. His fourth wife, Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pete, gave birth to their daughter Lori Lee Lewis before dying in a friend’s swimming pool before their divorce was final. He married Shawn Stephens in ’83 before her untimely death — just three months after they were married. His sixth marriage, to Kerrie McCarver, lasted 20 years, from 1984 to 2004, producing one son, Jerry Lee Lewis III. He married his seventh wife, Judith Brown, in 2012 with whom he spent his final days on their Nesbit, Mississippi, ranch. Jerry Lee Lewis is survived by his wife, sons Ronnie and Jerry Lee Lewis III, and daughters Phoebe and Lori Lee.