Jerry Lee Lewis Wild man Rocker

Jerry Lee Lewis was born in Ferriday, Louisiana in 1935, to a poor family. He had from childhood an extraordinary gift for music and a wild personality, so that he became famous as much for his “wild” ways and off stage antics as for his talent.   His rock and roll performances used to include standing on the piano, setting it on fire and giving his all.
About a year ago, my partner got tickets to see him but I couldn’t go. So I missed what‘s probably one of his last performances. He came on stage on crutches, and only played for about 40 minutes but I was told it was one of the most wonderful performances he’d ever see and heard
Jerry has always been a flamboyant personality and a law unto himself. 
Although he grew up in a bible Christian atmosphere, with Jimmy Swaggart the evangelist being one of his cousins, he was instinctively rebelling against conformity with the South’s conservatism. (Another of his cousins is the country singer and talented pianist Mickey Gilley). He sneaked into “black” clubs and bars to hear what was then called “race music”... as a kid.
As a teenager he attended a bible college but dropped out. He believed that “rock and roll was the devil’s music” -at times, but he was drawn to it.
In the 1950s, he was a king of rock and roll. Elvis was regarded as such but he was a much more conservative, gentle conformist. Jerry Lee was a rebel, arrogant, egotistical and at times very foolish. He created a huge scandal, which almost killed off his career in the 1950s when he was discovered to be married to a cousin of his, who was only 13. Jerry was 22. The marriage was legal, her parents had consented as it wasn’t unusual in the South at the time for girls to marry very young... with parental consent.  (The country singer Loretta Lynn was also married in her early teens).
However Jerry Lee had actually still been married when he wed Myra, because his divorce from his previous wife had not been finalised. 
In the UK, people were scandalised when her age was discovered. He also had trouble in the USA; for some years afterwards, he went from high paying gigs to small time ones, and was struggling to make a living.
He married many times after his relationship with Myra ended in divorce, and continued to rule the stage with his piano and his country and rock and roll singing. some of his big hits were “Great Balls of fire”, “Whole Lot of Shakin’ going on” which were attacked at the time for their sexual innuendo. He also remained loyal to his country roots and had many country hits. He’s famous for jamming with Johnny Cash, Elvis, and Carl Perkins at Sun Studios one Christmas, tapes that were later released as the “Million Dollar quartet” and have been made into a stage show.