Remembering Jerry Lee Lewis
• Rock & roll innovator Jerry Lee Lewis, a.k.a. “The Killer,” whose tumultuous and often controversial private life sometimes overshadowed a remarkable musical career that included such classics as “Great Balls Of Fire,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” “Breathless,” and others, died Friday, Oct. 28 at his home in Southaven, MS at the age of 87. Lewis had been in poor health for some time, prompting premature reports of his passing several days ago.
A posting on his website reads, “Lewis, perhaps the last true, great icon of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, whose marriage of blues, gospel, country, honky-tonk and raw, pounding stage performances so threatened a young Elvis Presley that it made him cry, has died. He was there at the beginning, with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and the rest, and watched them fade away one by one till it was him alone to bear witness, and sing of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. ‘Who would have thought,’ he said, near the end of his days, ‘it would be me?'”
The post continues, “He suffered through the last years of his life from various illnesses and injuries that, his physicians have often said, should have taken him decades ago; he had abused his body so thoroughly as a young man he was given little chance of lasting through middle age, let alone old age. “He is ready to leave,” his wife Judith said, just before his death.”
Lewis earned numerous honors over the years, most notably his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1986. He was also the recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. The Recording Academy honored Lewis with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, he’s a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, and earlier this month, he was formally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with longtime label executive Joe Galante and the late Keith Whitley.
• In lieu of flowers, the Lewis family requests donations be made in his name to the Arthritis Foundation or MusiCares. [Bottom photo credit: John Russell / CMA]
• Some interesting Jerry Lee Lewis chart facts: He placed 18 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 (8 of those never rose higher than #91), and 64 songs on the Billboard Country chart from 1957-1986. Lewis’ first four singles (all on Sun Records) – “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” debuted on June 29, 1957 and peaked at #4; “Great Balls of Fire” debuted on Nov. 30, 1957 and peaked at #2; “Breathless” debuted on April 12, 1958 and reached #8 – its “B” side, “You Win Again” only reached #95; and “High School Confidential” debuted on June 6, 1958 and peaked at #21. [Chart history courtesy of the West Coast Rock & Roll Museum]
• The Benztown Audio Tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis was produced and voiced by Royce Stevenson.
