Jerry Lee Lewis loves his fans. Sign Jerry Lee Lewis’ Official Guestbook by adding your comment below.
Jerry Lee Lewis loves his fans. Sign Jerry Lee Lewis’ Official Guestbook by adding your comment below.
Somewhere in the world, in a mean little honky-tonk or big music hall or church basement rec room, someone is playing a Jerry Lee Lewis song. Wherever there is a piano, someone is shouting…
You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
Too much love drives a man insane…
“But they won’t play it like the Killer,” Lewis liked to say, as if he needed to make sure the whole world was hearing him right, hearing the pounding genius of it, in songs like “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Breathless” and “Great Balls of Fire.”
“’Cause,” he liked to say, “ain’t but one of me.”
You broke my will
But what a thrill…
Lewis, perhaps the last true, great icon of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, whose marriage of blues, gospel, country, honky-tonk and raw, pounding stage performances so threatened a young Elvis Presley that it made him cry, has died.
He was there at the beginning, with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and the rest, and watched them fade away one by one till it was him alone to bear witness, and sing of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.
“Who would have thought,” he said, near the end of his days, “it would be me?”
Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!
He suffered through the last years of his life from various illnesses and injuries that, his physicians have often said, should have taken him decades ago; he had abused his body so thoroughly as a young man he was given little chance of lasting through middle age, let alone old age.
“He is ready to leave,” his wife Judith said, just before his death.
Lewis, who performed everything from “Over the Rainbow” to Al Jolson, who played the Opry and the Apollo and even Shakespeare, was 87 years old.
Some music historians have wondered if Lewis, regarded by his fans and many music historians as rock’s first, great wild man, might be indestructible; his obituary has been written, re-written, then shelved, gathering dust for a day that seemed inevitable, but seemed to never come. He defied death in his old age just as he shrugged off the hard-driving, self-destructive lifestyle of his younger years, to play his music to a worldwide audience across seven decades, decorate the walls of his home with Grammys and gold records, and spawn a million outrageous stories — most of them true.
Once, when asked by a biographer: “Is it true that…”
“Yeah,” interrupted Lewis, without waiting to hear the particulars, “it probably was.”
His beginnings sounded like myth. His father, Elmo, and mother, Mamie, mortgaged their farm to buy him a piano, after he climbed onto a piano bench and, without ever having touched a keyboard before, began to play. His nickname, Killer, had nothing to do with his playing, but came from a schoolroom fight in Ferriday when he tried to choke a grown man with his own necktie; still, it fit the man, the musician to come, but there was more to him than a barroom piano pounder who sometimes kept a pistol in his pants.
Musicians and music journalists called him a true virtuoso, whose music was so rich and complex that some of them swore there were two pianos on stage instead of one. He played honky-tonk and blues across the same keyboard in the same instant, could play melody with both hands. He sang rockabilly before he knew it had a name, sang blues, gospel and country in the same set and sometimes the same breath, to become No. 24 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Sam Phillips, who launched the careers of Elvis and Lewis at Sun Records in Memphis, called Lewis the most talented person he had ever seen. A talent that made him one of the very few to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s first class in 1986 and, most recently this past week, at long last, into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
As Lewis stacked hits on the charts in ’57 and Elvis received his draft notice, the reigning king of rock ‘n’ roll drove to Sun Records in tears, to tell Lewis: “You can have it.”
But if Jerry Lee’s life was a comet that streaked across the sky of American music, it was also a thing that scorched him inside and out, and so many of the people around him.
Judith, his seventh wife, was by his side when he passed away at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, south of Memphis. He told her, in his final days, that he welcomed the hereafter, and that he was not afraid.
Born into the Assembly of God church in his hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana, he never stopped believing, even when his lifestyle made the specter of hell seem closer. His greatest fear, that he would be condemned to a lake of fire for playing what many in his Pentecostal faith called “the devil’s music,” haunted him. He shared his fear with Elvis, who begged him to never mention it again. Lewis thought Elvis, also a Pentecostal, was the one person who might understand, but he died in ’77, leaving Lewis to wonder, alone.
He had prayed every day across his long life for forgiveness, and for salvation. His was a church that believed in miracles; why, he sometimes wondered, should he not be one of them? He found peace near the end of his life in a simple idea: that a music that brought such joy to so many could only come from God, “and the devil,” he said, “didn’t have nothin’ to do with it.”
“He said he was ready to be with Jesus,” said Judith.
His last album was a gospel record with his cousin, lifetime televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who had preached against his music when they were younger. In Jerry Lee’s final months, they took turns at the keyboard, singing songs they learned as children: “Old Rugged Cross” and “Lily of the Valley” and “In the Garden.” Lewis, though his voice and body were weakened by his injury and a recent stroke, seemed happy, content.
Much of his life, Lewis had seemed determined to leave the world in the great fire he sang about. He set pianos ablaze, busted hecklers in the head with the butt-end of his microphone stand and rammed the gates of Graceland with his Rolls Royce. He shot holes in the wall of his Memphis office with a .38 revolver, shot his bass player in the chest, “by accident,” with a .357. His life, at different times, was a blur of high-speed chases and Crown Royal. The DEA met his planes on the runway. Fortunes came and went; all the wild rock musicians who came after him, he said, were mostly amateurs. Keith Richards tried to toss up a bottle of Crown Royal and catch it by the neck, like him, “but he never did it right … wasted a bunch of good liquor.”
But if you asked him, in his waning years, what he hoped people would say about him, he had a simple answer.
“You can tell ‘em I played the piano and sang rock ‘n’ roll.”
His career, like his body, seemed doomed a dozen times.
After soaring to the top of the charts in ’57 with songs like “Shakin’” and “High School Confidential,” he was castigated in the press for his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra. His rock’n’ roll star seemed to burn out even as it began to rise, and after a few big hits in the early 1960s his career seemed to be over. He responded by loading two cars with instruments and musicians and hitting the road, to play some big rooms, still, but also every honky-tonk and beer joint that would pay him to perform. He fought his way out of beer joints in Iowa, then drove all night and all day to another town and another show.
Sometimes he gave them magic and sometimes, if the mood was on him, he gave them less, but in his old age he swore he gave them the magic all the time. In ’64, record producers taped his show at a Hamburg, Germany, nightclub and made what would become music history. Live at the Star Club would be regarded as one the rawest, wildest, and greatest live albums of all time.
Then, in a twist that surprised many of his rock fans, Jerry Lee Lewis went country. “Another Place, Another Time,” was just the beginning of a string of soulful country chart-toppers that made him rich and famous all over again. He had more than 30 songs reach Billboard’s Top 10, including “To Make Love Sweeter for You” and a haunting “Would You Take Another Chance on Me.” It seemed only natural to Jerry Lee. He had always believed that Hank Williams hung the moon.
In this new stardom he finally played the Grand Ole Opry, the organization that had once snubbed him, and ignored the two-song protocol to play what and for long as he pleased, even playing through the commercials. Then, in perhaps the oddest twist of his musical career, he was cast as Shakespeare’s sinister Iago in a musical production in Los Angeles; he was a natural.
Once again, he flew around the world, sometimes on his own plane, and once again his lifestyle made almost as many headlines as his music. Tragedy followed him; he buried two sons. His health began to fail, marriages failed, but somehow he always rallied, always kept playing, for big paydays, or for free in a Memphis nightclub, living the life he sang about in his songs.
In 2006, his Last Man Standing album sold a million copies, his best-selling album of his long career. He followed that with another success, Mean Ol’ Man. You could hear the ghosts of the old honky-tonks in them, as if Jerry Lee Lewis had, truly, found a way to stop time. He did a duet with Springsteen.
His Lifetime Achievement Grammy was a kind of crowning achievement, and he appeared at Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame shows to accept his due and to school the whippersnappers on how it was done.
In 2012, when he was 76, he fell in love and married Judith, and they lived quietly – quietly for Jerry Lee Lewis – in northern Mississippi, though Lewis continued to do shows here in the U.S. and abroad. That year they took a trip to Ferriday to visit the family cemetery, and to drive across the bridge to Natchez where, as a boy, Jerry Lee used to dangle over the girders high above the brown water of the Mississippi and the passing boats below. The other boys begged him to get down, but he just hung there, grinning, till they were in tears. When asked if he was scared, a lifetime later, he just looked surprised. The Killer didn’t get scared. But looking down at the river as an old man, he said he might have been crazy.
Later, they drove past the church where he beat the piano to pieces with his cousins Swaggart and Mickey Gilley, who would go on to country music stardom, pounding a little blues and honky-tonk into the hymns they were supposed to be practicing.
Just across town from the tiny church had once stood the other temple of his musical education, a blues joint called Haney’s Big House, where some of the biggest acts in the country came to play. As a little boy, he snuck in the door and hid under the tables to hear rolling blues piano and wicked guitar. And somewhere in between it all, between the hymnals and the beer joints, between Hank Williams and Ray Charles, he found something that was his alone. It was always a waste of breath to ask if he had any regrets.
He had a million, and he had none. It all just depended on the song that was running through his head at the time.
“I’ve had an interesting life,” he said, in his 2014 biography, “haven’t I?”
Written by Rick Bragg
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Jerry Lee 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 Jimmy Swaggart and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Elmo and Mamie Lewis, sons Steve Allen Lewis and Jerry Lee Lewis Jr., his siblings Elmo Lewis Jr. and Frankie Jean Lewis and his cousin Mickey Gilley.
Services and more information will be announced in the following days. In lieu of flowers, the Lewis family requests donations be made in Jerry Lee Lewis’ honor to the Arthritis Foundation or MusiCares – the non-profit foundation of the GRAMMYs / National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Saw you play in Tilburg and Amsterdam. Thank you for those great concerts. Now have.a good one for the mam above.
Selamat Jalan Jerry
Jerry Lee Lewis will be missed. I enjoyed your music especially Great Balls of Fire & seeing you play with your feet on the piano. We lost another great musician.
Jerry Lee,
I’ve been following your inspirational music for over 10 years, and I am heartbroken to hear of your passing.
Luckily there’s plenty of videos of you shakin’ in and gettin’ in for us to enjoy.
I will cherish the autographs I received for my birthday little over ten years ago.
Thanks for the music.
Liam
I’ve been a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis since I was 14 years old. I’m almost 80 years old now and I still listen to his music. J L L left this world a rich and enduring library of music that will span through the ages. RIP.
Jerry Lee, With your music you helped me through the most difficult periodes of my life. If there is a heaven for killers, you are the one that deserves it. God bless youand your family
Jerry Lee has returned to the lord, and while here on this earth he entertained us all.
while we mourn a world wide loss, he was a true talent, that gave endless inspiration and joy to millions all over this world. Thank God for jerry lee lewis.
I saw jerry In Glasgow 2 times 2004&2015 boy he really was the last man standing.
Love and Prayers to all family,
From a simple fan.
With Deepest Sympathy to the Lewis Family Jerry was Great will be ddply missed
Rest in Peace
thank you for so much joy with your music. RIP the Killer. condolences to the family and friends
Prayers from Vienna/Austria 🙏
a great fan and admirer from his art
Rest in Peace
Erich
I have been a fan for a very long time. Hope to see Ferriday, Louisiana put up a statue because Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the founding members of Rock and Roll. He made a piano player look cool. May he forever rest in peace.
Rest in Paradise…you will be missed & very much loved…xoxo
You and your music have always accompanied me. You are unforgettable! You were the best! Rest in peace ! a last greeting Thomas from Hamburg / Germany
dear jerey leeelewis may god blessyou in heaven your friend andy
Stan Moscrop from Scotland, rest in peace Jerrl Lee you were the greatest.
You are the Superman of Gospel and Country Music
Killer. You were the Original Outlaw. I’d say “Go Easy” but you never would. See you~
MAY JERRY HAVE HIS LONG LASTING LIFE IN HEAVEN AS THE HOTTEST PIANO PLAYER THERE EVER WAS AS THE LAST ORIGINATOR PLAYING THERE IN HEAVEN. HE WAS ONE OF MY OLD BEST FRIENDS WHOM I WILL TRULY MISS AND I LOVED MY OLD FRIEND JERRY THE KILLER, AND THE SHOWMAN THE ORIGINATOR THAT HE WAS TILL THE END, AND I’LL STILL BE LISTENING TO HIM WHILE IM HERE ON EARTH. WHEN I GET TO HEAVEN I WILL BE LISTENING FOR YOUR MUSIC IN HEAVEN. YOU ARE MY ANGEL AND I KNOW THAT YOU WILL BE WATCHING OVER ME. JERRY WAS THE KILLER THE SHOWMAN, AND THE MOST INTRIGUING PERSON YOU ABSOLUTELY WANTED TO BE. YOU DID DO IT YOUR WAY WHILE YOU WERE HERE ON EARTH AND YOU DID IT RIGHT. YOU WERE WILD TO EVER BE TAMED JERRY. I KNOW THAT YOU WOULD HAVE JESUS SEND YOU DOWN TO WATCH OVER YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. YOU WERE THE THE INTRIGUING MAN THAT I HAVE EVER MET IN MY LIFE. I SEEN ASIDE OF YOU THAT NO ONE WOULD BELIEVE TO BE SEEN BY YOU. YOU LOVED YOUR FAMILY, AND
FRIENDS WE ALL WILL TRULY MISS YOU. AND THE MUSIC YOU LEFT BEHIND..
❤🎼🎶🎵🎹🎤💐🙏➕❤
RIP Jerry Lee you have made so many people happy with your music I will continue to listen for as long as I live your fan always
miss you Jerry Lee my hubby passed away 3 years ago he was 87 too! I met you & sang backup vocals stage with you 40th Anniversary RockNRoll Memphis Beabody!! Your sister Gail was there too RIP in Rock N Roll Heaven now!!! visited your home & ranch too at that time
RIP Jerry lee you were the greatest and your music will live forever.
How impermanent everything in our lives is, is made unmistakably clear again here.
Jerry Lee has lived his live involved others with his inimitable gift of bringing music and letting other people enjoy it, away from their daily grind.
Let this great gentleman find his over deserved rest in the afterlife with all those he loved so much around him.
He opened, co-wrote and now closed the book of a true era called rock ‘n roll !!
His style was impossible to copy and an example for many others…
May God bless you “Jerry Lee Lewis” and let us pray and thank the Lord for what you left us behind.
Many generations will continue to listen the rock ‘n roll music from the boy of Ferriday, Louisiana.
God rest your soul Jerry Lee, you were loved by many while you were here and you will influence generations to come. Your music changed the earth for the better and we thank you for that.
-Sincerely, a loyal fan.
You are the man . Rock n roll was in your blood and I enjoyed hearing you play it all these years.. you were the best RIP KILLER !!!
Sorry to hear of Jerry Lee,s death the greatest rock and roll singer,RIP Jerry.
donald trump eat my rump