Jerry Lee Lewis, one of only 16 people to have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, died Friday at his home in Mississippi. He was 87.
The pioneering musician behind classics like “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” died two days after TMZ reported that he had died and subsequently retracted the story and apologized.
"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," read a statement from his reps.
Lewis was born in Louisiana and taught himself to play piano when he was just a young boy. He moved to Memphis in 1956 and landed a gig as a session player at Sun Records, where he played on songs by artists like Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.
After finding success as an artist, Lewis turned to country music and had hits like “Another Place Another Time” and There Must Be More to Love Than This."
His cover of “Chantilly Lace” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male and the Class of 55 album of which he was a part was nominated for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
Lewis won his only competitive Grammy in the Best Spoken Word Or Non-Musical Recording category for Interviews From The Class Of '55 Recording Sessions. (In 2005, he received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award.)
Dennis Quaid portrayed Lewis in the 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire!, which was a box office dud but renewed interest in his music.
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Lewis was married seven times between the ages of 16 and 77 and had six children. His third marriage, when he was 22, was to his 13-year-old cousin Myra Brown – a scandal that resulted in Lewis being blacklisted in the music industry.
Nicknamed “The Killer” – for his wild piano playing – Lewis faced more than his share of death. His first-born child, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr., died in a car accident at 19 and his third-born, Steve Lewis, drowned in a swimming pool at the age of 3. Lewis’ fourth wife Jaren Pate drowned in a swimming pool after their separation and his fifth wife Shawn Stephens died of a methadone overdose.
Lewis was arrested in 1976 outside Elvis Presley’s home Graceland after smashing his Lincoln Continental into the gates with a loaded gun on the dashboard. He was charged with carrying a pistol and public drunkenness. (Earlier that year, Lewis accidentally shot his bass player Butch Owens.)
Lewis also had decades of battles with the Internal Revenue Service and, in 1988, filed for bankruptcy claiming he owed $2 million U.S. in taxes.
Lewis is survived by wife Judith Brown and sons Ronnie and Jerry Lee Lewis III and daughters Phoebe and Lori Lee.