Obituary: Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis was the archetypal chaotic antheral of rock'n'roll.

On stage, helium performed successful a authorities adjacent to frenzy. A savage, earthy vigor burning wrong him, helium hammered the keyboard similar a antheral possessed.

His beingness was a toxic cocktail of scandal, addiction and violence. Two of his 7 wives died successful suspicious circumstances; different was hardly much than a child.

This was the antheral who - fable has it - erstwhile drove to Graceland, precocious connected intoxicant and pills, with a weapon connected the dashboard. "Come out," helium said to Elvis Presley, "and we'll soon find retired who's King."

Lewis was disgraced galore times. But those aboriginal tracks - A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On and Great Balls Of Fire - were truthful profoundly portion of the soundtrack of the 20th Century, that helium ne'er rather faded from the scene.

Sixty years aft their recording, helium inactive played to packed houses. And someway - contempt the portion and drugs - Lewis outlived galore chap rock'n'roll pioneers.

Jerry Lee Lewis was calved successful East Louisiana - heavy successful the American book loop - connected 29 September 1935.

His father, Elmo, was a mediocre husbandman with a sideline successful moonshine; his mother, Mamie, a God-fearing euphony lover. The household were devastated erstwhile Jerry's older member was killed by a car. It was to beryllium the archetypal calamity of many.

When Lewis turned seven, his begetter mortgaged the location for $250 successful bid to bargain him a piano. It proved an fantabulous investment.

Elmo recognised his son's potential. He bought a pick-up truck, enactment the soft connected it, and the brace of them busked their mode astir the South. "Kill 'em dead" said his parent and "Killer's" lifelong nickname stuck.

At slightest that's 1 story. Another, darker mentation involves "Killer" half-strangling a high-school teacher. But it's often hard to disentangle Lewis-fact from Lewis-legend.

On the road, helium would sneak into blues clubs to perceive to music. The lone achromatic kid successful the building, helium was forced to fell nether tables.

At 16, helium joined a preacher's girl and - with rock'n'roll declared the Devil's euphony - went to Bible assemblage successful Texas. It pleased his mother, who fondly imagined him singing hymns. But it didn't past long.

At a schoolhouse assembly, helium improvised a boogie-woogie rendition of My God Is Real and was summarily expelled. His preaching vocation was astatine an extremity earlier it started but Lewis was phlegmatic: "There were conscionable excessively galore good-looking women retired there," helium aboriginal said.

He went to Memphis, and the legendary Sun records, successful hunt of stardom. In 1956, his archetypal single, Crazy Arms, sold 300,000 copies - chiefly successful the South.

He began signaling prolifically, moving arsenic a league instrumentalist and touring with chap members of the Sun Records' stable: Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.

Elvis Presley dropped circular connected a societal visit, which turned into an impromptu jam session. Someone had the consciousness to grounds it and the radical became known arsenic the Million Dollar Quartet.

His archetypal large solo deed came successful 1957. A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On astatine archetypal received small airplay and successful immoderate cases got banned for obscenity.

According to Johnny Cash, the opus adjacent troubled Lewis himself who disquieted it was "sinful": "I was disquieted astir whether I was going to eden oregon hell," helium aboriginal said.

But helium didn't clasp backmost erstwhile performing. On the fashionable Steve Allen TV show, helium kicked his seat aside, thumped the soft with his heels and raked his hands up and down the keyboard.

He adjacent stood connected the instrumentality and leapt off. Millions watching - who until past thought a soft was conscionable for tinkling - simply gaped.

The grounds began selling successful millions. Lewis followed up with Great Balls of Fire and Breathless; some became Top 10 hits.

His occurrence fed a towering ego. Lewis decided helium should beryllium the past enactment connected signifier successful immoderate performance. When Chuck Berry was booked to adjacent 1 show, Lewis flipped.

He acceptable occurrence to the soft with lighter substance erstwhile he'd finished, and past turned connected Berry: "Follow that, boy," he's expected to person said.

An quality successful the movie High School Confidential - wherever helium played the rubric way connected the backmost of a flat-bed motortruck - made the 22-year-old an planetary star.

In 1958, helium acceptable retired connected a circuit of Britain. But astatine a property league successful Heathrow airport, catastrophe struck.

Lewis' archetypal matrimony had lasted 20 months. His 2nd - to Jane Mitchum - was bigamous and ended with her throwing claw hammers done his windscreen.

Now a news-agency reporter, Ray Berry, raised questions astir Jerry's 3rd wife, Myra Gale Brown. It turned retired that she was a first-cousin once-removed and - shockingly - conscionable 13 years old.

Jerry insisted she was nearer 15, and his absorption squad backed him up. But newspapers swiftly discovered the truth.

There was contiguous uproar. Lewis was booed disconnected signifier and the circuit was cancelled aft 3 performances. He claimed helium didn't cognize kid brides were taboo successful Britain, and that this was the norm successful the Southern States.

But the occupation was not constricted to Britain. When Lewis returned home, determination were headlines saying he'd disgraced the nation. The stone & rotation superstar recovered himself blacklisted and shunned.

Overnight, Jerry Lee Lewis had gone from charging $10,000 a performance to scraping a surviving successful tiny bars and clubs. Still nether declaration to Sun Records, helium released caller stone & rotation numbers - immoderate of which sold modestly. But it wasn't truly the same.

The 1 large occurrence of his wilderness years was the medium helium made successful 1964. Live astatine the Star Club, Hamburg was described by Rolling Stone arsenic "not truthful overmuch an album, much of a transgression scene". "Jerry Lee Lewis slaughters his rivals," it said, "in a 13-song acceptable that feels similar 1 agelong convulsion". But it was not released successful the United States.

Salvation laic successful Nashville. Lewis near the Devil's euphony down him and turned alternatively to state music's nostalgic homilies to emotion and loss, feeling and faith.

With thing to lose, helium recorded Another Place, Another Time - a screen mentation of a tune by Jerry Chestnut. To everyone's surprise, it changeable to adjacent the apical of the state charts.

More hits followed, similar What Made Milwaukee Famous (Made a Loser retired of Me) and She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye. His vocals were soulful; his soft flourishes delightful. His vocation was backmost connected track.

By 1970, Jerry Lee Lewis had go the astir bankable state prima successful the world. But calamity and contention inactive dogged his backstage life.

In the aboriginal 60s, his lad Steve had drowned successful a swimming pool. Now helium mislaid different - Jerry Lee Lewis Jr - successful a car accident.

In 1976, Lewis changeable his bass player, Butch Owens, erstwhile a pistol "accidentally" went disconnected successful his hand. And helium was arrested extracurricular Elvis Presley's mansion portion drunk and holding a gun.

His matrimony to Myra lasted much than a decade. But Lewis' 4th and 5th marriages proved arsenic arsenic controversial.

In 1982, Jaren Pate drowned conscionable a fewer weeks earlier the divorcement colony could beryllium finalised. A twelvemonth aboriginal - aft conscionable 77 days of matrimony - Shawn Stephens overdosed astatine location and died.

Rolling Stone published a blistering article, much oregon little accusing Lewis of sidesplitting her. She was bruised and bleeding, with his methadone wrong her; but a Grand Jury cleared him.

Lewis admitted to cause addiction. He was admitted to the Betty Ford session for dependency connected painkillers and, successful 1984, a 3rd of his tummy was removed owed to perforated ulcers.

Two years later, helium was among the archetypal 10 stars introduced to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - alongside Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Ray Charles.

In 1989, a large movie astir his beingness - Great Balls of Fire! - brought him backmost into the nationalist eye.

His quality was played by Dennis Quaid and "the Killer" re-recorded each his aged songs for the soundtrack. The chaotic kid of stone n' rotation had recovered a full caller procreation to appal.

He toured Europe with his aged rival Chuck Berry and Little Richard - possibly the lone antheral who could lucifer Lewis' earthy vigor successful beforehand of an audience.

His sixth matrimony - to Kerrie McCarver - lasted 2 decades and ended successful 2005. He aboriginal walked down the aisle for a seventh, and final, clip with Judith Brown.

In 2006, Lewis released the medium Last Man Standing. Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash - the different members of that celebrated Million Dollar Quartet - were present each gone. The lone subsister kept touring into his eighties.