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You are here: Home / News

News

March 18, 2019 by Zach Farnum

Recovery Update: Jerry Lee Lewis Is Heading In The Right Direction

Statement from Zach Farnum, publicist for Jerry Lee Lewis:

Great news! After suffering a stroke and spending two weeks in the hospital, Jerry Lee Lewis has been transferred to a rehabilitation center.

“Jerry Lee Lewis is expected to fully recover with aggressive and intensive rehab. From what I have seen thus far, he is heading in the right direction,” said Dr. Rohini Bhole, M.D., Lewis’ Neurologist.

As such, Jerry Lee Lewis will unfortunately have to cancel his appearances on April 28 at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in New Orleans, LA, on May 18 at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, TN, and on June 8 at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer greatly appreciates the prayers and well wishes he’s received from fans all over the world. He wants them to know he can’t wait to get back on stage and into the studio to make his Gospel record.

“‘But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord” – Jeremiah 30:17

Filed Under: News

March 1, 2019 by Zach Farnum

Doctors Expect Jerry Lee Lewis to Make Full Recovery After Minor Stroke

Statement from Zach Farnum, publicist for Jerry Lee Lewis:

Last night, Jerry Lee Lewis suffered a minor stroke. He is with his family, recuperating in Memphis and the doctors expect a full recovery. The Killer looks forward to getting back into the studio soon to record a Gospel record and on the road performing live for his fans. His family requests privacy at this time. Well wishes and prayers are greatly appreciated.

“‘But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord” – Jeremiah 30:17

Filed Under: News

November 8, 2018 by Jerry Lee Lewis III

Jerry Lee Lewis to Play New Year’s Eve 2019 Concert on Beale Street

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2018

Jerry Lee Lewis to Play New Year’s Eve 2019 Concert on Beale Street

Memphis, TN — Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk is pleased to announce that Jerry Lee Lewis will return to Beale Street for a special New Year’s Eve Concert at the one and only Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk, located at 310 Beale Street, on December 31, 2018.

The concert will include an exclusive performance by Jerry Lee Lewis to ring in the New Year. The concert will start at 8:00pm, with the full concert line-up to be announced later this month. The concert is open to the public, with 125 tickets available for purchase through the Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk website jerryleelewismemphis.com/nye2019.

Tickets go on-sale at 8:00am CST on Thursday, November 15, 2018, starting with a 24-hour presale period for fans. Presale ticket prices start at $150 for Gallery Seats and go up to $300 for Front Row seats. After the presale period, the price of any remaining tickets will increase by $25.

Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll and Country musicians of all-time, has fans across the country and around the world, but his busy tour schedule would not be complete without a stop in Memphis, Tennessee. Jerry Lee Lewis III said, “If there is one thing that can be said about my dad it’s that he loves his fans, and he truly enjoys it when he can perform back home in Memphis!”

This year, fans and businesses will also have the opportunity to make history by sponsoring the concert. Sponsorship opportunities include options to receive recognition in the concert program, concert signage, concert poster, and on the website. Sponsorship opportunities start at $500 for individuals and $1,000 for businesses.

JJ Spencer, General Manager of Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk, said, “Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk is thrilled Jerry Lee Lewis will celebrate New Year’s Eve at Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk with his fans again this year. Fans who have signed our online Guestbook agree there is no better place to see the The Killer perform, and we’re ready for another sold-out concert!”

Jerry Lee Lewis’ energy and enthusiasm in his performances, including famous stage antics, earned him the nickname “The Killer” for the way he knocked out his audiences. Jerry Lee Lewis was in the very first class of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and his performances are known to draw fans from around the world. This exclusive New Year’s Eve Concert is one you don’t want to miss! To purchase tickets, visit the Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk website jerryleelewismemphis.com/nye2019.

About Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk
Jerry Lee Lewis built his name in Memphis and now he showcases the best Delta musicians. Located on World Famous Beale Street in the heart of downtown Memphis, Jerry Lee Lewis Café & Honky Tonk is filled with The Killer’s piano, motorcycle, photos, memorabilia, along with great food and live music. It’s walking distance from the Fedex Forum, making it the prime location to stop and eat before the big game or concert. We open early and stay open late, catering to both tourists and party animals alike.

About Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29th, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana. He began playing the piano at age 9, copying the styles of preachers and black musicians. He signed with Sun Records in 1956 and quickly became a star. He was inducted into the first class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Lewis spends much of his time-off at his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi, where he is happily married to his wife Judith.

Contacts

JJ Spencer
General Manager, Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk
901-474-4535
info@jerryleelewismemphis.com
www.jerryleelewismemphis.com

Jerry Lee Lewis, III
jll3@jerryleelewis.com
www.jerryleelewis.com

###

Filed Under: News

October 30, 2018 by Jerry Lee Lewis III

Tickets On-Sale for Richard Spooner for Sheriff Fundraiser Featuring Jerry Lee Lewis

Richard Spooner for Sheriff Fundraiser featuring Jerry Lee Lewis

When
Friday Jan 11, 2019
Doors: 7:00 PM
Show: 8:00 PM

Minors Under 18 With Parent or Legal Guardian

$75 – $250

Where
Hilton Jackson Ballroom
1001 E County Line Road
Jackson, MS

Purchase Tickets

Filed Under: News

August 3, 2018 by Jerry Lee Lewis III

Iconic Entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis To Rock Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center On December 10, Tickets On Sale August 10!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2018

Iconic Entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis To Rock Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center On December 10, Tickets On Sale August 10

Nashville, TN. – Rock ‘n’ roll’s original wild-man and country music stylist, Jerry Lee Lewis, will return to Nashville for the first time since 2014 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Dec. 10. Tickets are available for presale here and will go on sale to the general public on August 10 at 10 a.m.

“We are honored that Jerry Lee Lewis has chosen the Schermerhorn for his triumphant return to Music City,” said Alan D. Valentine, Symphony president & CEO. “His appearance promises to be one of the highlights of our entire season lineup, and we are thrilled to add ‘The Killer’ — one of the true legends of American music — to the long list of musical icons who have graced our stage.”

Few artists in music history can boast a résumé as impressive as that of “The Killer,” now in his seventh decade of an unrivaled career that includes numerous GRAMMY® Awards, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s inaugural class, the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and an unparalleled impact on countless rock and country artists who have followed in his footsteps.

About Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the all-time best singer-songwriters, musicians, and pianists. He was born in 1935 to Mamie and Elmo Lewis of Ferriday, Louisiana. In November of ‘56 Jerry Lee made his way to Memphis, Tennessee where he would join Sun Records and launch hit records with “Crazy Arms,” “Whole Lotta Shakin,’”, and “Great Balls of Fire.” Jerry Lee, along with with his friends Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins would become known as the Million Dollar Quartet and there is not any part of music that their influences haven’t touched. As a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s very first class of inductees, “The Killer” holds numerous awards including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, numerous GRAMMYs, the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award and countless other honors. He is truly rock’s first great wildman, and shows no signs of stopping, touring around the globe still today. Visit www.jerryleelewis.com to follow “The Killer.”

Contacts
Jerry Lee Lewis
Zach Farnum | zach@117group.com | 615-997-0100
Heather Trotter | heather@117group.com | 615-997-0100 x704

Schermerhorn Symphony Center
Dave Felipe | dfelipe@nashvillesymphony.org | 615-867-6565

# # #

Filed Under: News

June 23, 2018 by Jerry Lee Lewis III

Announcing Upcoming Jerry Lee Lewis Tour Dates!

Are you ready to get your ticket to see The Killer perform live?

Visit our Events section to see upcoming Tour dates!

Filed Under: News

April 19, 2018 by Jerry Lee Lewis III

Fans Can Now Follow the Jerry Lee Lewis’ Verified Instagram Account!

Are you a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis? Follow Jerry Lee Lewis’ verified Instagram account!

Filed Under: News

April 16, 2018 by Jerry Lee Lewis III

Fans Can Now Like Jerry Lee Lewis’ Verified Facebook Page!

Are you a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis? Like Jerry Lee Lewis’ verified Facebook page!

Filed Under: News

March 15, 2018 by Jerry Lee Lewis III

Fans Can Now Follow Jerry Lee Lewis’ Verified Twitter Account!

Are you a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis? Follow Jerry Lee Lewis’ verified Twitter account!

Filed Under: News

July 19, 2017 by Jerry Lee Lewis III

Jerry Lee Lewis to Perform at Skyville Live Tribute Show

Filed Under: News

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Website by John Gehrig

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

—

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.