“Every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable”: Jerry Lee Lewis’ marriage to his underage cousin
Rock ‘n’ roll music exploded onto the American music scene during the 1950s, bringing with it a whole host of newly emerging musicians who would soon become rock sensations. Among the likes of Elvis Presley and Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the most prominent architects of early rock and roll. Famed for groundbreaking hits like ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ and ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’, there was also a dark side to Lewis’ life that would eventually see him rejected by popular culture.
From a very young age, Lewis dedicated himself to mastering the art of piano playing, largely inspired by his cousin Carl McVoy. However, Lewis’ parents were devout Christians and sent the budding young musician to the Southwest Bible Institute in Texas, where he was taught to play exclusively evangelical songs. Lewis was eventually expelled from the institution after playing a boogie-woogie version of ‘My God Is Real’. This gave the young musician his first taste of rock and roll rebellion.
After being expelled from school, Lewis began playing in clubs and bars around Mississippi and, later, Nashville. Before too long, he had become a leading figure within the blossoming world of rock and roll, finding incredible success with singles like ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’ in 1957. Aside from his recordings, the pianist also became known for his trailblazing, high-energy performance style, which set him apart from the pianists of old.
Shortly after finding mainstream success across the globe with hit singles like ‘Great Balls of Fire’, Lewis’ career came crashing down during a tour of the United Kingdom. At Heathrow Airport, journalist Ray Berry discovered that Lewis had married the 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown, his first cousin once removed. Expectedly, the media fallout from this disgusting revelation cast an unavoidable shadow over the musician’s career, and the tour was quickly abandoned.
Brown was Lewis’s third wife; he would go on to have seven wives over the course of his life. At the age of 16, he married Dorothy Barton, and just over a year later, in 1953, he married Sally Jane Mitcham, with whom he had two children. His marriage to Brown began in December 1957, when she was only 13 years old and Lewis was 22. The details of the marriage were only brought to light during that tour in England when Brown revealed to Berry that she was Lewis’ wife, though the rock star claimed she was 15 instead of 13.
Even today, marriages between first cousins once removed are perfectly legal in many US states, including Mississippi (where Lewis and Brown were first married). However, there is no getting away from the fact that Brown was underage and had clearly been groomed and exploited by Jerry Lee Lewis. What’s more, the pair had two children together – Steve Allen Lewis and Phoebe Allen Lewis – and Brown was only 14 years old when she gave birth to the eldest.
So, how long was Jerry Lee Lewis married to his cousin?
In total, Lewis and his cousin were married for 13 years before Brown filed for divorce in 1970, citing adultery and abuse as a result of Lewis’ continued reliance on drugs and alcohol. She later said that she was “subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable” during her marriage to the rock and roll star.
Following Brown’s divorce from Lewis, the rock musician was married four more times, most notably to Judith Lewis, who had previously been married to Myra Gale Brown’s brother. Together, in 2017, Jerry and Judith Lewis sued Phoebe Lewis-Loftin – one of the children from his marriage to the underage Brown – and effectively cut his daughter from any aspect of his life. The suit was unsuccessful, and Lewis eventually died in 2022 at the age of 87.
His career never truly recovered from the revelation of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown. Although he did find some success in the world of country music, mainstream audiences could not escape the fact that the pianist had married his underage cousin, and that prevented him from reaching the same dizzying heights as some of his early rock contemporaries.
Aside from his career nosedive, however, Lewis never faced any real repercussions for grooming, abusing, and raping his cousin throughout their 13-year marriage. What’s more, he never faced any real consequences for the suspicious death of his fifth wife, Shawn Stephens, who died as a result of a methadone overdose mere months after the pair were married, leading many to theorise that Lewis was involved.
