Credit: Wikimedia

Rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis dead at 87

Fri 28 October 2022 18:51, UK

Jerry Lee Lewis, the fiery and controversial pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, has died at the age of 87.

Nicknamed ‘The Killer’, Lewis was known for his outrageous stage antics and unstoppable energetic performances. Across his career, Lewis wrote and recorded some of the most iconic early-era rock and roll songs ever written, including ‘Great Balls of Fire’, ‘High School Condifential’, and ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’.

“There was rockabilly. There was Elvis. But there was no pure rock n’ roll before Jerry Lee Lewis kicked in the door,” Lewis himself once proudly boasted. In actuality, Lewis represented a melding of different genres, including country, R&B, swing, and rock and roll that all combined into one potent blend.

Lewis was notorious among his peers for his wild lifestyle and fierce temper. He was a pioneer in stage performance, often kicking aside his piano bench and using his feet to kick the keys for dramatic effect. Lewis’ status as a superstar was confirmed by his position in the ‘Million Dollar Quartet’, the impromptu supergroup that also featured Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins.

When Presley joined the Army in 1958, Lewis was poised to take over as rock n’ roll’s biggest star. However, a report from that year confirmed that Lewis was married to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown. Lewis’ overseas tour was cancelled, and his career was halted almost overnight.

It wouldn’t be until his 1964 live album, Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, that Lewis began to rebuild his audience. A turn into country music in the 1970s proved to be the comeback he was looking for, with Lewis scoring 17 top ten singles on the Billboard Country Singles chart between 1968 and 1977.

In 1986, Lewis was one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, appearing in the inaugural class along with Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and more. He was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Earlier this week, TMZ erroneously reported that Lewis had died. The report was denied by Lewis’ representatives at the time, but just a few days later, it was confirmed that Lewis had passed away Friday morning.