Mississippi, US: Renowned “Great Balls of Fire” singer Jerry Lee Lewis has passed away at the age of 87.
Lewis was the last surviving member of a group of ground-breaking performers that also included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, and Little Richard, according to a statement from his agent Zach Farnum.
Lewis was well-known for his stage demeanor, incredible piano skills, and long blond hair. Lewis relaunched his career as a country artist in the 1960s after spending years out of the spotlight.
The singer later collaborated with other well-known musicians like Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen, B.B. King, Keith Richards, and Sheryl Crow.
Chairs were tossed all over the stage during a 1957 recording of “The Steve Allen Show.” To the wild delight of his younger followers and the dismay of their parents, he would also frequently kick away his piano bench and smash on the keys with his foot.
Lewis received three Grammy awards throughout his career and was one of the first musicians to be honored in 1986 by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The singer continued to be popular outside of America, particularly in Europe, where the CD “Live at the Star Club, Hamburg” from 1964 is regarded as one of the best concert recordings.
Lewis had not yet divorced his first wife but by the time he turned 20, he had a son and was married for the second time. His third marriage only made his already turbulent personal life worse.
The singer’s career dramatically changed when it was revealed that he had married Myra Gale Brown, a 13-year-old girl who was also his cousin, while on tour in England in 1958. After hearing the news, the tour was called off, and radio stations put him on a no-play list.
Lewis struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and the woman he married subsequently filed for divorce, claiming that he had physically and mentally abused her, driving her to the brink of suicide.
Lewis and Myra got divorced in 1970, after which he married Jaren Pate, but she died by drowning in 1982. Despite spending eight years apart, they had not yet divorced. In 1983, only a few months after they wed, his second wife, Shawn Michelle Stevens, was discovered dead in their house from a heroin overdose.
The singer wed his seventh wife, Judith Brown, in 2012 after a tumultuous 20-year marriage with his sixth wife Kerrie McCarver.
In total, Lewis had six children, but only four lived. His son Steve Allen Lewis died in a swimming pool accident when he was three years old, and another son, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr., died at the age of 19 after overturning his car.
Lewis’s final album featured his cousin Jimmy Swaggart, a lifelong televangelist who had previously preached against his music when they were younger.