Jerry Lee Lewis (1935 - 2022)

Born 29 Sep 1935 in Ferriday, Concordia Parish, Louisiana, USA

Ancestors

Died 28 Oct 2022 at age 87 in Nesbit, DeSoto, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Jerry Lee Lewis is Notable.

Jerry Lee Lewis (1935-2022), sometimes called "The Killer," American pianist and singer-songwriter of gospel, country, boogie woogie, and rockabilly, was also "rock & roll's first great wild man."^[1]

Lewis was born to the poor family of Elmo and "Mamie" Herron Lewis in Ferriday, Concordia Parish in eastern Louisiana. He began playing piano in his youth with two cousins, country music singer Mickey Gilley and television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. His parents mortgaged their farm to buy him a piano. Jerry had a host of influences: a piano-playing older cousin, Carl McVoy (who later recorded with Bill Black's Combo), the radio, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, Moon Mullican, and the sounds from a Black juke joint across the tracks called Haney's Big House.^[1]

His mother enrolled him in Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, in hopes that her son would exclusively focus on evangelical songs. But Jerry played a boogie woogie rendition of "My God Is Real" at a church assembly, which ended up getting him expelled.^[1]

He returned home and started playing at clubs in and around Ferriday and Natchez, Mississippi, becoming part of the new rock & roll sound, cutting his first demo recording in New Orleans in 1954, and performing on the Louisiana Hayride. He made a trip to Nashville circa 1955 to pursue his career. He played clubs, but despite his hopes, was turned down by the conservative Grand Ole Opry, for style differences.^[1] Record executives in Nashville suggested he switch to playing a guitar instead of the piano.

Jerry eventually launched his recording career at Sam Phillips' Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee (much like Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley). His first trip there to audition was financed by the sale of 33 dozen eggs.

In his personal life, Lewis had his share of trouble. He was only sixteen when he married Dorothy Jean Barton. His second marriage, to Sally Jane Micham, occurred before the first was legally over. His career screeched to a halt when he married his thirteen-year-old cousin as his third wife. Later, his estranged fourth wife, Jaren Gunn, drowned in a swimming pool, and his fifth wife, Shawn Stephens, was found dead only eleven weeks after their marriage. Although Lewis was never charged in either death, he also never escaped the associated cloud of suspicion. Altogether, he was married seven times, and he had six children.

There were also some unfortunate incidents involving guns (none fatal).^[1]

Unable to rekindle his rock & roll career, Jerry switched to country music and had phenomenal success as a country artist.^[1]

Lewis was in the first class of inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989. The Library of Congress's National Recording Registry added Lewis's "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" in 2005. He was the first artist inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008. He was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.^[1]

He was eighty-seven years old when he died at his home on October 28, 2022, in Nesbit, Mississippi.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Wikipedia contributors, "Jerry Lee Lewis," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jerry_Lee_Lewis&oldid=1158493848 (accessed June 19, 2023).

See also:

• Wikipedia.com
• Jerry Lee Lewis Biography (Rolling Stone)
• imdb.com
• allmusic.com
• Tim DOWLING's Family Tree
• Great Balls of Fire
• High School Confidential (from movie of the same name)
• Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (first television appearance, July 1957)