Jerry Lee Lewis, the piano-pounding, foot-stomping singer who electrified early rock ‘n’ roll with hits like “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” before marital scandal derailed his career, has died, according to a statement from his representative, Zach Farnum. He was 87.
Lewis passed away at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, south of Memphis, the statement said. Farnum told CNN that Lewis died of “natural causes” when reached by phone.
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.
Along with Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and others, Lewis was one of the leading figures of the 1950s rock era and a master showman – nicknamed “The Killer” – whose raw, uninhibited performances drove young fans into spasmodic 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.”
Jerry Lee Lewis performs in the United Kingdom circa 1980. David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images 
From left, Lewis joins Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash for a one-night jam session in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1956. The recording at Sun Studios was called the Million Dollar Quartet, and it became a seminal moment in rock history. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 
By 1957, thanks to hits such as "Great Balls of Fire," Lewis was internationally famous. But his incendiary style and suggestive lyrics led some radio stations to boycott his songs. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 
Lewis, right, performs in Memphis in 1957. He was born in Ferriday, Louisiana, in 1935. His website says he began playing the piano at age 9, following the styles of preachers and Black musicians who passed through the region. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 
Lewis gives an enthusiastic performance at the Cafe de Paris in New York in 1958. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images 
Lewis is seen with his third wife, Myra, in 1958. He was near the peak of his popularity when the public learned that he had married Myra Gale Brown, his first cousin. She was 13 at the time; Lewis was 22. News of the marriage leaked in London, where Lewis had flown to play some concerts. Lewis told the press that Myra was 15, but the truth soon came out and caused an outcry, as newspapers blared such headlines as "Fans Aghast at Child Bride." Audiences heckled Lewis, and the tour was canceled after three shows. Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images 
Lewis plays the piano for Myra in New York. Tom Baffer/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images 
Lewis signs immigration cards with Myra, right, and his sister Jean as they leave London to come back to the United States in 1958. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images 
Lewis and Myra get set for a motorcycle ride in 1958. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images 
Lewis listens to a show with Myra before entertaining a crowd in 1962. Watford/Mirrorpix/Getty Images 
Lewis in 1966. He continued to record and tour in the 1960s, but his rockabilly music didn't sell in the Beatles era and he couldn't regain the popularity of his early years -- until he made an unlikely comeback as a country singer. Dezo Hoffman/Shutterstock 
Lewis' most enduring legacy may have been his unhinged piano-playing style, which influenced Elton John and many other musicians. During concerts Lewis banged the keys with his fists and elbows, kicked over his piano stool, climbed atop his instrument and once even set it on fire. Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 
Lewis enjoys a cigar and a drink backstage in London in 1972. Steve Wood/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 
Lewis was raised in a strict, religious household and sometimes struggled to reconcile his faith in God with his love of rock 'n' roll, which conservative listeners in the 1950s condemned as "the devil's music." Chris Foster/Shutterstock 
In 1976, Lewis was arrested by Memphis police and charged with public drunkenness and gun possession. He was arrested in the early hours of the morning after drunkenly crashing his car into the gates of Presley's Graceland estate. Donaldson Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images 
From left, Cash, Perkins and Lewis hang out together at a show in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1982. After a decade of dwindling sales, Lewis reinvented himself in the late 1960s as a country artist and revived his career. Paul Natkin/Archive Photos/Getty Images 
Lewis lounges on a couch inside a dressing room in 1982. Thomas S England/The Chronicle Collection/Getty Images 
Lewis weds Shawn Michelle Stevens at his home in Nesbit, Mississippi, in 1983. Lewis was married seven times. Rick Diamond/Archive Photos/Getty Images 
Lewis plays the piano at his home in Mississippi in 1999. Marc Morrison/Redux 
Lewis lights his favorite pipe in his dressing room backstage in Highland, California, in 2005. Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images 
Lewis performs at the Terre Neuvas festival in Bobital, France, in 2006. Andre Durand/AFP/Getty Images 
Lewis performs in New York City in 2009. Kevin Kane/WireImage/Getty Images 
Lewis poses with his seventh wife, Judith, in 2015. David McClister/The Guardian/eyevine/Redux 
Lewis performs in Cerritos, California, in 2018. Scott Dudelson/Getty Images 
Lewis plays in Sarasota, Florida, in 2019. Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto/Getty Images 
Lewis sits for a picture at the Country Music Hall of Fame after it was announced in May 2022 that he would be inducted as a member. He was unable to attend the ceremony in October because he was ill with the flu, according to a statement posted to his social media. Mark Humphrey/APIn pictures: Rock 'n' roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis
Prev NextBut 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.
News of the marriage leaked in London, where Lewis had flown to play some concerts. Lewis told the press that Myra was 15, but the truth soon came out and caused an outcry, as newspapers blared such headlines as “Fans Aghast at Child Bride.” Audiences heckled Lewis, and the tour was canceled after three shows.
Lewis continued to record and tour over the next decade, but his rockabilly music didn’t sell in the Beatles era and he couldn’t regain the popularity of his early years – until he made an unlikely comeback as a country singer.
Beginnings
Lewis was born in 1935 into a poor farming family in Ferriday, Louisiana. One of his cousins, Jimmy Swaggart, would go on to become a popular TV evangelist. Lewis’ website says he began playing the piano at age 9, aping the styles of preachers and Black musicians who passed through the region.
After dropping out of school to focus on playing music, Lewis traveled in 1956 to Sun Studios in Memphis, where he quickly gained work as a session player for such budding stars as Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. He also recorded with Elvis Presley.
A December 1956 recording session with Lewis, Presley, Perkins and Cash – nicknamed the “Million Dollar Quartet” – became a seminal moment in rock history.
By the following year, thanks to Top 5 hits like “Great Balls of Fire,” Lewis was internationally famous, even though his incendiary style and suggestive lyrics led some radio stations to boycott his songs.
Then came the marriage scandal, and Lewis’ aura was never quite the same.
Jerry Lee Lewis performs on stage at the Country Music Festival held at Wembley Arena, London in April 1982. David Redfern/Redferns/Getty ImagesAfter a decade of dwindling sales, he reinvented himself in the late 1960s as a country artist and revived his career, scoring a series of Top 10 country hits well into the Seventies.
In 1989 “Great Balls of Fire!”, a biopic starring Dennis Quaid as Lewis, brought new attention to Lewis’ life and music. Lewis even recorded new versions of his hits for the soundtrack.
But his personal life remained messy. He was married seven times and filed for bankruptcy in 1988, claiming he owed the IRS more than $2 million.
He also battled alcoholism, drug addiction and other health problems for years. In one infamous 1976 episode, he was arrested at Graceland in the wee hours of the morning after drunkenly crashing his car into the mansion’s gates – with a loaded gun – while trying to visit Presley.
“I ain’t no goody goody, and I ain’t no phony,” Lewis said in Bragg’s biography. “I never pretended to be anything, and anything I ever did, I did it wide-open as a case knife. I’ve lived my life to the fullest and I had a good time doin’ it.”
In October, Lewis was inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame but was unable to attend the ceremony because he was ill with the flu, according to a statement posted to his social media.
Giving the people a ‘show’
Lewis was raised in a strict, religious household and sometimes struggled to reconcile his faith in God with his love of rock ‘n’ roll, which conservative listeners in the 1950s condemned as “the devil’s music.”
He didn’t write many songs but was brilliant at reinterpreting others’ compositions with his infectious, boogie-woogie rhythms, which helped bring rockabilly music into the mainstream.
But his most enduring legacy may have been his unhinged piano-playing style, which influenced Elton John and many other musicians. During concerts Lewis banged the keys with his fists and elbows, kicked over his piano stool, climbed atop his instrument and once even set it on fire.
In this way, he showed that rock ‘n’ roll wasn’t just about the guitar.
In 1986, he joined a constellation of seminal figures – Berry, Presley, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers – as the first group of artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Lewis lived most of his life on a ranch in northern Mississippi with a piano-shaped swimming pool. He never quite outran the scandal of marrying his young cousin. But to his fans, his infectious music and his fiery live shows made up for his personal transgressions.
Jerry Lee Lewis speaks at the Country Music Hall of Fame 2022 inductees presented by CMA at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on May 17, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. Jason Kempin/Getty Images“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.’”
Lewis is survived by his wife, Judith Coghlan Lewis, his children Jerry Lee Lewis III, Ronnie Lewis, Pheobe Lewis and Lori Lancaster, sister Linda Gail Lewis, cousin Swaggart and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews, according to his representative’s statement.
Information on services will be announced in the coming days, the statement added.
In lieu of flowers, the Lewis family requested donations be made in the singer’s honor to the Arthritis Foundation or MusiCares.
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