A file picture of Jerry Lee Lewis. (Picture courtesy: AFP)
Jerry Lee Lewis, a scandal-generating kingpin of Fifties American rock and roll who performed a pivotal function in shaping the style’s sound, died on Friday. He was 87 years outdated. Well-known for his flowing blond locks, rowdy piano beats and outrageous stage presence, the star finest recognized for his traditional Nice Balls of Fireplace died of pure causes, his publicist advised AFP.
“He is able to go away,” an accompanying assertion quoted the artist’s spouse Judith as saying.
The assertion stated Lewis suffered years of diseases and accidents: “He had abused his physique so totally as a younger man he was given little probability of lasting via center age, not to mention outdated age,” it learn.
A good friend and rival of Elvis Presley, Lewis’s profession spanned greater than half a century and produced a wealth of eyebrow-raising tales about his quite a few wives — together with a teenage cousin – drunken rampages and run-ins with the federal government over again taxes.
It additionally produced a string of indelible hits.
Born on September 29, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, Lewis took to the keys at age 9. The next 12 months, his dad and mom Elmo and Mamie mortgaged the household farm to purchase him an upright piano.
Alongside along with his cousins Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart – who would respectively go on to develop into an award-winning nation musician and a scandal-tainted evangelist — Lewis spent hours perfecting his craft.
Provocative lyrics
In 1956, Lewis struck out for Memphis, Tennessee – the southern American metropolis well-known as a cradle of soul, blues and rock – to hyperlink up with the producer Sam Phillips at Solar Data, who was instrumental in Presley’s astronomical rise.
Lewis, Presley and Johnny Money acquired along with Carl Perkins on the studio for the “Million Greenback Quartet” jam session that 12 months, which was launched a lot later to acclaim.
Lewis soared to fame the subsequent 12 months along with his breakout hit “Entire Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” – whose provocative lyrics shocked some radio stations that initially refused to play it.
“It was simply one other tune to me,” he advised The New York Occasions in 2006. “The ladies went slightly berserk, however that is women for you.”
‘The Killer’
His observe up, Nice Balls of Fireplace, stays one of many best-selling singles of all time, and was additionally the title of a 1989 docudrama about Lewis starring actor Dennis Quaid.
By the summer season of 1958, Lewis – nicknamed “The Killer” — was rocketing to the highest, with followers packing exhibits, cash flowing in, and a 3rd hit, Breathless, climbing the charts.
In an period when even the slightest decrease physique gyration by Presley brought on a sensation, Lewis carried it additional, thumping on the keys with arms and ft, and leaping atop his grand piano to squeals of pleasure.
“Who would have thought it could be me?” the publicist’s assertion quoted the rocker as saying in his closing days.
Lore has that Lewis even lit his piano on fireplace in an try and outshine guitarist Chuck Berry, who had snagged the closing slot that very same night time.
Elton John tweeted that with out Lewis “I would not have develop into who I’m at present,” calling him a “trailblazing inspiration.”
“He was groundbreaking and thrilling, and he pulverized the piano.”
Scandal
All of it got here crashing down, nevertheless, in 1958 when Lewis launched into a tour of Britain — and the press there found he had married his 13-year-old second cousin Myra Gale Brown.
“I knew it was unhealthy, I knew it was unsuitable,” Lewis later advised The Washington Put up.
His stateside return additionally proved a impolite awakening, as Lewis discovered himself blacklisted from radio and tv.
He headed out on the highway for one-night exhibits in bars and minor golf equipment.
“From 10,000 {dollars} an evening to 250 {dollars} is a hell of a disappointment,” Lewis stated.
For many of the Sixties, Lewis was on the margins, eclipsed by the subsequent era like The Beatles, as his illicit marriage would without end tarnish his legacy.
However he remained an inspiration to his superstar successors.
After they met within the early Seventies, John Lennon knelt all the way down to kiss Lewis’ ft, telling him: “You’re the man who made it potential for me to be a star in rock-n-roll music.”
“I simply type of froze,” Lewis advised GQ of the second.
Musical legacy
Lewis jumped over to nation music, looking for a recent begin. He additionally re-recorded a few of his traditional tunes.
In 1986, he was a part of the primary class inducted into the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame, alongside fellow greats together with Presley, Berry, James Brown and Ray Charles.
He obtained a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2005.
Late in life, he collaborated with Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton on his studio albums.
“Your songs lit up my life!” tweeted Jagger.
Lee’s private life continued to show regarding and stormy. After 14 years of marriage to Myra, who accused the singer of bodily and psychological abuse, the couple divorced.
Married twice earlier than Myra, Lewis wedded 4 occasions after. He had six youngsters. One died in a swimming pool accident as a toddler, and one other died in a automobile accident.
In 1993, arguments with the US authorities over again taxes led officers to grab pianos, furnishings and different private gadgets to cowl his debt.
A infamous onerous drinker, Lewis at occasions was hooked on prescription capsules.
He toured extensively late in life, although a stroke in 2019 curtailed his schedule.
“After they look again on me, I would like them to recollect me not for all my wives, though I’ve had just a few, and positively not for any mansions or excessive dwelling cash,” Lewis stated.
“I would like them to recollect me merely for my music.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
