Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis married seven times. Dorothy Barton, Jane Mitchum, Myra Lewis, Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate, Shawn Stephens, Kerrie McCarver, and Judith Brown were his wives. He fathered seven children.

His marriage in 1957 to Myra Lewis, a thirteen year old below-the-age-of-consent second cousin, and that too before divorcing his second wife, ruined his career which was at its prime.

The 76-year-old singer-songwriter married his seventh wife Judith Brown, who was his caregiver, in 2012. They spend much of his time-off at his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi.

Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29, 1935, to Elmo and Mamie Lewis. He began playing the piano when he was nine. His parents backed the son’s passion, even mortgaging their farm to buy him a piano.

His early musical influences were his piano-playing cousin Carl McVoy and Moon Mullican. He also got to listen to the tracks that Haney's Big House, the juke joint near his house, played.

When he audaciously played a boogie woogie version of ‘My God Is Real’ at a church assembly, he was immediately expelled from the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas.

Jerry Lee Lewis cut his first demo recording in 1954. But it failed to impress recording executives who could not imagine a successful piano-playing rock star, and advised him to switch to guitar.

In 1956, he auditioned for Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. They recorded his rendition of ‘Crazy Arms’ and his own composition ‘End of The Road’, and soon, he became a prolific artist.

An unplanned jamming session involving him, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash was recorded in 1956 in the Sun Studios in Memphis, and released three decades later as ‘Million Dollar Quartet’.

In the 1958 crime drama film ‘High School Confidential’, he made a cameo appearance to sing the title song he penned with Ron Hargrave. The song reached No.21 on the Billboard charts.

Jerry’s career hit a bald patch following his controversial marriage. He released many singles including his versions of ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’, ‘Good Golly Miss Molly’ and his version of ‘In the Mood’.

Jerry Lee Lewis’s 1957 version of ‘Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On’ reached No. 3 on the Billboard pop charts and Lewis became an instant sensation. It is considered an all-time classic.

‘Great Balls of Fire’, a 1957 song recorded by him featured in the movie ‘Jamboree’. It sold over 5 million copies and reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop charts.

His 1964 album, ‘Live at the Star Club’, backed by The Nashville Teens at Hamburg, Germany, is regarded by many, as one of the wildest and greatest rock and roll concert albums ever.