Rock’n’roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis has died of natural causes, aged 87, at his home in Mississippi. His seventh wife, Judith, was by his side.
Lewis’ energetic piano-playing performances with songs such as his most well-known hit “Great Balls of Fire” helped turn rock’n’roll into the dominant American music form of the 1950s.
He also had a wild-man reputation and became embroiled in scandal after it was revealed he had married his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Brown (the third of his seven marriages).
His fourth and fifth marriages were even more notorious with both his wives dying in suspicious circumstances. He successfully switched to country music after the rock’n’roll scene dwindled and scored a series of hits on the U.S. country charts.
In 1986 he was one of the first ten performers inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. He ultimately recorded forty studio albums and his life was immortalised in the Dennis Quaid-led biopic “Great Balls of Fire” in 1989.
Quaid issued a statement in the wake of Lewis’ passing, saying: “People will be listening to ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and ‘Whole Lot of Shakin’’ 500 years from now…I will miss him. God bless you Jerry Lee”.
Source: The Guardian
