Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the prime architects of rock 'n' roll. Besides bursting out of the Sun Records stable in the mid '50s with a fire comparable to labelmate Elvis Presley, he helped create the template for rock piano along with Fats Domino and Little Richard. Born in Ferriday, Louisiana on September 29, 1935, and started out playing country music as a teen in the '40s. But he loved blues and R&B as much as country, and as a youngster his world was changed when he snuck in to see blues artists at local roadhouses. By the mid '50s, like a handful of other cutting-edge artists, he'd begun blending R&B and country for a first-gen rock 'n' roll sound. He made his way to Memphis in 1956 with Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in mind, Sun having already introduced Elvis to the world. He released his first single, "Crazy Arms," on Sun that year. But it was his next single, 1957's "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On," that exploded, becoming a huge hit and a rock 'n' roll standard. Over the next year or so, "Great Balls of Fire," "Breathless," and "High School Confidential" expanded his reputation further. Lewis was a top-tier rock star, and his performances were as explosive as his music - he would bang on the keys with his feet, stand up and fling the piano stool, and even set his piano on fire, all at a time when such behavior onstage was unprecedented. But Jerry Lee's rebellious ways proved to be a double-edged sword. In 1958 it was revealed that the 22-year-old Lewis had married Myra Gail Brown, his 13-year-old first cousin once removed. The public was scandalized, and the revelation halted Jerry Lee's momentum, basically killing his career for years. He wouldn't have another major hit until he reached back to his beginnings and reinvented himself as a country singer in the '60s. Beginning with "Another Place, Another Time" in 1968, Lewis became a frequent denizen of the country Top 10, scoring a long string of hit singles that lasted all the way into the early '80s. By the '80s enough time separated him from his scandal that he was able to make his way back to rock 'n' roll again. He remained a commanding presence onstage for decades to come, and by the '90s his infrequent album releases were celebrated events, often including a raft of big-name guests. He was an unstoppable force until 2019 when he was sidelined by a stroke that resulted in the cancellation of his scheduled shows. Jerry Lee Lewis died on October 28, 2022 in Nesbit, MS at the age of 87.