Today, like many years ago, Jerry Lee Lewis concerts attract thousands of people. But what is the secret of such an impressive success? We will try to understand this today by presenting to your attention a short story about the life and creative destiny of the great musician.
Early years, childhood and family of Jerry Lee Lewis
As reported in most modern sources, our today's hero began to play the piano in early childhood. Literally from the age of ten, he methodically sorted out chords, and also took over the skill from his cousin, Mickey Gilly (now a famous country performer). Sometimes he also took lessons from invited teachers, but such cases were quite rare.Due to the fact that Jerry's family was extremely religious, this quality was soon transferred to him. From an early age, he dreamed of becoming a clergyman, and therefore, after graduating from school, without hesitation, he entered the Southwestern Bible Institute in Texas. Here he continued to improve his musical skills. However, studying at a Texas university was short-lived for him.
The reason for the expulsion, oddly enough, was the music. The thing is that during one of the performances, the young musician got the idea to perform the song “My God Is Real” in the “boogie” style. Soon he successfully put his idea into practice. But to the teachers of the religious institute, this idea seemed not the most successful. The song was called blasphemous, and very soon our today's hero was expelled from the university.
Realizing that the career of a clergyman is, to put it mildly, "not his", Jerry Lee Lewis decided to devote his life to his favorite pastime - music. In 1954, our today's hero recorded two cover songs for a Louisiana radio station. The songs hit the air, and this small success made the young musician believe in himself.
An excerpt from the film about Jerry Lee Lewis "Great balls of fire"
In the fall of 1956, he arrived in Memphis and arranged an audition for one of the local record companies. The musical talents of the young guy were appreciated, but his repertoire was recognized as "not relevant". The thing is that at that time, rock and roll was the fashionable and most sought-after style, but Jerry's repertoire included only compositions in the country style. Representatives of Sun Records asked the musician to reconsider his musical style a bit, and Jerry Lee Lewis had no choice but to agree.
It is worth noting that our today's hero wrote the necessary compositions quite soon. "Rock and roll" "End Of The Road" led to indescribable delight of the chairman of Sun Records, and he subsequently spoke of the young musician as "the new Elvis Presley".
It is noteworthy that the ability to easily switch from one style to another later became one of the characteristic features of the musical work of Jerry Lee Lewis.
Star Trek by Jerry Lee Lewis
In 1958, our today's hero presented to the public his first studio album, which received the modest name "Jerry Lee Lewis" several songs from this disc very soon got into active rotation of all radio stations in North America and some time later turned into real hits.In the late fifties, the musician went on a long tour of the cities of the USA, Canada and Great Britain. The singer's career developed rapidly. However, in the second half of 1958, a serious scandal erupted around the popular musician associated with his marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown. Due to this incident, many of the singer's concerts in Europe were canceled. No less cold reception of Jerry Lee Lewis awaited at home.
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin Going On (Live 1964)
Because of the scandal that broke out, our today's hero was blacklisted by all radio stations for a long time. His concerts were cancelled, and newspaper publications about himself and his work were predominantly critical.
It was only in 1963 that the musician managed to get out of a protracted peak. During this period, he again began to give concerts, and compositions from the musician's second studio album ("Jerry Lee's Greatest") began to sound on US radio stations. Soon, Lewis again began to tour a lot. During this period, not only American and Canadian, but also German and English cities.
In the first half of the sixties, our today's hero signed a contract with Smash Records and began active studio work. Subsequently, he released several albums a year, and in 1971 he again managed to record a "golden single" with the symbolic title "Would You Take Another Chance on Me".
From that moment on, the career of Jerry Lewis developed rapidly. In the period from 1971 to 2013, he recorded about forty (!) new albums, the last of which - the compilation "Sun Recordings: Greatest Hits" - was released in 2012. Almost each of the studio records gave the world at least two or three real hits.
Jerry Lee Lewis at present
Currently, Jerry Lee Lewis is still as full of energy as ever. He often performs in various cities in Europe and North America, and is also working on the implementation of several new studio projects.In 1986, our today's hero was included in the first ten members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Directly or indirectly, the life of the legendary musician is told in two biopics at once.
Personal life of Jerry Lee Lewis
The novels and marriages of Jerry Lee Lewis could easily be the subject of a separate article. For the first time, the now legendary musician had a chance to go under the altar at the age of fifteen. His wife was the daughter of a local priest. The reason for the collapse of this marriage was the above-mentioned romance of the performer with his young niece. 
The marital union with a young girl lasted 12 years and subsequently also broke up. In the future, our today's hero decided to tie the knot five more times. Some of these marital unions broke up by themselves, and some were interrupted by the fault of the case.
So, the fourth wife of the musician drowned in the pool, and the fifth died from an overdose. In early 2012, the 76-year-old musician married for the seventh time. The new wife of Jerry Lee Lewis was his nurse, who at that time was 62 years old.
Jerry Lee Lewis (eng. Jerry Lee Lewis, born September 29, 1935) is an American singer, one of the leading rock and roll performers of the 1950s. In America, Lewis is also known by the nickname "The Killer" (The Killer). Lewis's career began in Memphis, recording for Sun Records in 1956. The label owner, Sam Phillips, placed special hopes on Jerry Lee, hoping to raise a new Elvis Presley. Lewis' first hit single was "Crazy Arms" (1956). The next hit - "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" (1957), of his own composition - became the singer's calling card and has since been recorded by many performers. Then followed the successful "Great Balls Of Fire", "Mean Woman Blues", " Breathless", "High School Confidential". As a pianist and unable to move away from the instrument, Lewis directed all his whirlwind energy into the game, often supplementing it with kicks and head strikes. Lewis's booming career was almost ruined by the scandal that erupted in 1959 After his marriage to his 13-year-old great niece, the singer's success began to fade, and he continued to play rock 'n' roll, recording with Sam Phillips until 1963, after which he moved to a new label and started looking for his new path. a series of experimental albums, Lewis, like many rock musicians of his generation, eventually turned to country, where he found success.The single "Chantilly Lace" (1972) topped the US country charts for three weeks. When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was created in 1986, Jerry Lee Lewis was invited to the gala dinner as one of the original seven members. Three years later, his biography was filmed. The main role in the film "Fireballs" (Great Balls Of Fire!) was played by Denis Quaid, the role of his niece, whom he married - Winona Ryder. The role of Lewis was also given a prominent place in the film "Walk the Line" (2005) about Johnny Cash. Lewis still occasionally records and performs live. Interesting facts During the celebration of his forty-first birthday in 1976, Lewis jokingly pointed a gun at his bass player, Butch Owens, and, believing that he was not loaded, pulled the trigger, shooting him in the chest. Owens survived. A few weeks later, on November 23, he was arrested in another gun-related incident. Lewis was invited by Elvis Presley to his Graceland estate, but the guards did not know about his visit. When asked what he was doing at the entrance gate, Lewis showed a gun and told the guards that he had come to kill Presley.Received the title of "King of Rock and Roll", then rightfully has the title of the godfather of rock and roll, the king of American music of the southern states. Real talent in rock and roll can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Many of them are either in the shadow of less talented, but more successfully promoted performers, or have died a long time ago. Such talents include Jimmie Rogers, Robert Johnson, Ray Charles and the greatest of them -.
House in exchange for a piano
Jerry born in 1935 in North Louisiana and grew up in an extremely devout family, so the earliest musical impressions are connected with church music. His life was destined to be a tragedy from the moment Lewis turned 3 years old, and his older brother Elmo died under the wheels of a car with a drunk driver at the wheel.
Parents Jerry loved country music, especially Jimmie Rodgers, and soon the young Lewis also joined her. In his aunt's house, from time to time, he played the piano, and when his parents heard him, they were convinced that their son was gifted by nature, and even mortgaged the house in order to purchase a piano for an eight-year-old boy.
Then Jerry I liked everything from country and something from jazz. He even learned to play Jimmie Rodgers and Al Johnson songs on his instrument. He soon mastered all the styles of piano playing known to him. By the end of the 1940s Jerry Lee discovered the Negro blues and saw concerts by such performers as Champion Jack Dupree, Big Macio and B.B. King. During his first public performance, he performed the Stick McGee song "Drinkin' Wine Spo-dee O'dee".
Jerry Lee Lewis' first hit
The most famous country singer in the 1940s and early 50s was Hank Williams. Jerry like many other singers 
country, was fascinated by him. Some of his songs Lewis included in his repertoire, combining them with other blues and country compositions.
Another artist who had a huge impact on Jerry Lee, was Moon Mulliken - a pianist who played boogie-woogie, combined styles of blues, jazz and country. He became famous for the hit "I'll Sail My Ship Alone", which Jerry Recorded for Sun Records.
In the mid 50s Jerry studied theology at a bible college in Texas, preparing to become a preacher. In 1954, he recorded two songs for a Louisiana radio station. These were popular hits by Hank Snow and Eddie Fisher. At the time, Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, was thinking that if he could find a white singer who sang in Negro, he would become a millionaire.
White bluesman
Many of the early rockers on the Sun were just copies of either Hank Williams or black bluesmen, and didn't have their own unique style.
Jerry Lee was one of the few original white bluesmen, as well as one of the famous country music stylists after Hank Williams. Sam Phillips noticed this when he heard Jerry Lee in 1956. Lewis created a completely new style that combined country, blues, rockabilly, boogie and gospel.
Soon the world noticed the mixture of country-blues-boogie performed by Lewis and hit followed hit. His amazing talent has taken a special place in the world of rock and roll. His style was unique. Jerry Lee could sing and play anything. So Sam Phillips found a white musician who could sing like a black man and even better.
The persecution and fall of Jerry Lee Lewis
By 1959, real rock and roll began to fade. Artists like Buddy Holly or Pat Boone were good singers, but much sleeker than the early rockers. Soon Jerry Lee discovered that his music was banned. suitable 
the pretext for this was marriage to Myra, a 13-year-old cousin. The scandal led to the fact that some of the concerts were disrupted, and the rest had to be canceled due to the unfolding large-scale persecution of the artist. The real reason was that rock music encouraged young people to rebel. Finally, the fall of rock and roll was hastened by racists who hated blues, country, jazz. That is why the charts suffered from the dominance of pop music.
While friends and contemporaries Jerry Lee, such as Roy Orbison switched to a new style, he continued to produce blues-boogie as before. By 1968 Jerry focused on country and had hits like "Another Place, Another Time". His albums also sold well.
Jerry Lee Lewis - The Killer
His years of collaboration with Elektra were also marked by success. By 1986 he had released over 60 hits, 
many of which were number 1 or in the top ten. Three of his albums, released on Elektra, became the most successful.
It is known that musicians who play in the same concert, by hook or by crook, try to be the last on stage - this is considered more prestigious. Once played in one concert with Chuck Berry. "I'll play last," said Jerry Lee. "No, I'm the main one, and I'll be the last one," Chuck Berry stood his ground. He still won his coveted honorable last place. Then Jerry Lee, having finished his performance, set fire to the piano and threw it into the orchestra pit. “Let him try to play after THAT!” he said as he left. No wonder they called "a killer" - "killer".
Phoenix
Meanwhile, the 60s, 70s and 80s filled the personal life Jerry tragedies: beloved sons - Steve Allen and Jerry Lee Jr. - died in accidents. In 1970, his mother died, and Mayra divorced him the same year. His next two wives also died in tragic circumstances. All these events made Jerry Lee addicted to drugs and alcohol. He almost died twice from ulcer bleeding. Kerry, his current wife, helped Jerry get rid of bad habits.
And yet, in spite of everything, Lewis remains the best vocalist, pianist and showman. His 1995 album Young Blood is filled with the same energy as previous years' work. Next year at Jerry had a heart attack, but he still continues to play rock.
Not only the King of Rock and Roll Boogie, he's the only one who continues to play real Southern Blues and Country. He is said to be the greatest living rock 'n' roll artist who still records and performs from time to time.
DATA
While celebrating his 41st birthday in 1976 Lewis jokingly pointed a gun at his bass player Butch Owens and, believing he was unloaded, pulled the trigger, shooting him in the chest. Owens survived. But a few weeks later Lewis arrested for another 
gun incident. invited Lewis to his Graceland estate, but the guards did not know about the visit. When asked what he was doing at the entrance gate, Lewis showed the gun and told the guards that he had come to kill Presley.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was created in 1986 and Lewis became one of the 10 original members. Three years later, based on the book by Myra Gale Brown, a film adaptation of the musician's biography was created. Especially for the picture, he re-recorded his main hits.
Updated: April 13, 2019 by: Elena
Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the pioneers of rock and roll, nicknamed "the killer" for his striking listener on the spot expressive manner of performance. Surrounded by a scandalous halo, both on stage and in life, this musician was still very popular, and he was one of the first to get a place in the "Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame" that opened in the 80s. Jerry Lee was born in the remote Louisiana town of Ferriday on September 29, 1935. The boy's talent for playing the piano was evident when he was not yet ten, and although the Lewis family did not live well, the parents mortgaged a farm in order to acquire the instrument, so that their son could practice as much as he wanted. By the way, at first Jerry did not study alone, but together with his brothers, but he very quickly overtook them in skill. At first, Lewis copied the style of black musicians and churchmen, but when older cousin Carl McVoy taught him the secrets of boogie-woogie, he began to mix new knowledge with country and gospel music and thus develop an original style. And although the guy did not do well at school, achievements in music compensated for this shortcoming. At the age of 14, Jerry Lee gave his first concert at a local car dealership and was already ready to conquer new heights, but then his mother intervened. She did not want her young son to be spoiled by show business, and she pushed her offspring into a bible college in Texas. The naive woman believed that Jerry would use his gift for the glory of the Lord, but he did not justify her hopes and flew out of a charitable institution for singing the gospel "My God Is Real" in the boogie-woogie style.
After this incident, Lewis returned to Louisiana and began performing in small clubs, and in 1955 paid a visit to Nashville. In the country capital, they did not appreciate the young man's abilities and, as if in mockery, advised him to learn to play the guitar, but Jerry Lee continued on his way and the next year found himself on the threshold of the Memphis studio "Sun". In the absence of label owner Sam Phillips, he managed to successfully pass the audition, and soon he recorded his first record with a cover of Ray Price's "Crazy Arms". The single was a local success, and that was enough to keep Lewis on "Sun". His expressive piano could be heard on many "sunny" things of the end of 1956 - beginning of 1957, and, in addition, on the eve of Christmas days, historical sessions took place, at which the musician jammed with Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. This event was of a spontaneous nature, but the savvy sound engineers guessed to turn on the tape recorder in time, and subsequently a record called "Million Dollar Quartet" was born.
1957 was a year of triumph for Lewis and his crazy piano. Unable to wobble on stage with a guitar, Jerry jumped up in the middle of a song, kicked his chair back and violently attacked the keys while standing. His piano drive first hit the vinyl EP "Whole Lotta Shakin" Going On ", and if Phillips at first doubted the release of the record, then he realized that he had hit the jackpot. Killer rock and roll took the highest positions in country music - and rhythm and blues tables, entered the top three of the pop chart and announced to the world that a new superstar appeared on the American stage. Success in recording was fueled by enchanting concerts, in which Jerry Lee revealed himself as a grandiose showman. The musician played not only with his fingers , but also with his elbows, legs, head and ass, and once, in order to kill Chuck Berry, who spoke after him, he even set his instrument on fire. rammed the top ten with the hit "Breathless". Unfortunately, his further career was spoiled by the artist's personal life, namely his marriage to 13-year-old cousin Myra Gail Brown. In principle, in the southern states, such marriages were considered commonplace, but when Jerry arrived on tour in England, the local press presented him as a child molester, and a major scandal erupted. The tour was canceled, but even upon returning to America, the artist turned into an outcast, and his songs were banned from the air, and the fees fell from $10,000 to $250 per concert. However, Lewis did not give up so easily and continued to play boogie-woogie on small venues and release rock and roll records, and before leaving at the peak he managed to score one more goal against show business with the single "High School Confidential" . Over time, the incident with Myra slowly began to be forgotten, and in 1961, Ray Charles' cover of "What" d I Say "returned Jerry to the American Top 40, and in 1964 the musician showed the Europeans how to work live, capturing his energy in the hall" Live At The Star Club, Hamburg".
When Lewis's rock 'n' roll career, which moved from Sun to Smash Records, still came to a standstill, he remembered his youth and switched to country music. The first success in the new direction was waiting for him in 1968, when the song "Another Place, Another Time" hit the top ten. This EP was followed by a number of other hits in the Top 10, and in the same 1968, the composition "To Make Love Sweeter For You" was at the very top of the specialized chart. For the next few years, Lewis regularly riveted country albums, and sometimes even curtsied gospel style (as in the case of "In Loving Memories"), but in the early 70s he was again drawn to rock and roll during a visit to London he cut the program "The Session". He was assisted in recording this double by local stars such as Jimmy Page, Peter Frampton, Alvin Lee, Rory Gallagher, Matthew Fisher, etc. And although the album was somewhat inferior to the energy of the early records, the audience took it well, and "The Session" found itself in the fortieth "Billboard".
The return to the charts coincided with another tragedy in the Lewis family - his 19-year-old son died in an accident. I must say that the musician’s personal life was generally full of black moments - back in 1962, his first son drowned in the pool, later a similar accident occurred with his fourth wife, and the fifth wife died from an overdose of methadone. In 1976, Jerry almost killed his bassist (pulled the trigger of his revolver, thinking that he was not loaded), and just a few weeks later he was tied with a weapon at the residence of Elvis Presley. Many of these misfortunes could have been avoided if the musician had led a more correct lifestyle, but alcohol and drugs brought such turbulent chaos into her life that misfortunes were inevitable. In 1978, Lewis signed a deal with Elektra Records and released the radio hit "Rockin' My Life Away" the following year, but soon quarreled with this company, and the case ended in a scandalous trial. The last major country hit from Jerry ("Thirty -Nine And Holding") was released in 1981, when the musician almost went to the other world due to a bleeding ulcer. Fortunately, the doctors managed to save Lewis, and in 1986, after a series of regular adversities, he found himself in the Hall of Fame Rock and Roll". Another surge of interest in the artist's work occurred in 1989, when the film "Great Balls Of Fire" appeared on world screens, telling about his early career. Jerry Lee performed all the songs for the soundtrack personally, and all the things sounded as energetic and incendiary as in the 50s.
Once again, Lewis proved that young blood still flows in his veins by releasing a record with the appropriate name in 1995. And although both the vocal presentation and the keyboard pressure were at a fairly high level, the impression from "Young Blood" was smeared by a not very successful selection of accompanists. In the following decade, avoiding studio visits, Jerry toured sporadically, and his new album was not released until 2006. On "Last Man Standing" Lewis managed to gather almost the entire elite of rock and roll (Jimmy Page, "Rolling Stones", Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Little Richard, etc.), and four years later he repeated the idea of duets in the "Mean Old Man" program. On the eve of his 80th birthday, "Killer" again used the help of some of his friends, but now he left them behind the scenes and, photographed alone against the backdrop of the Sun building, presented the album "Rock & Roll Time" as a real solo album.
Last update 01.11.14
