Jerry Lee Lewis is dead ...
Again ...
(only apparently for real this time)
We said most of what we had to say on Thursday when the premature (but inevitable) announcement was first erroneously made ...
(Scroll back to Thursday for more on this)
And it looks like I called it pretty correctly ...
>>>This has been happening WAY too often lately ...
A notification comes out about a celebrity death ... only to be overturned a few hours later with a "Oh no, they're still alive" announcement. (In this age of immediate news, it would seem to me that this should be less likely than ever before. Back in the good old days, when a story actually had to circulate through whatever means was available at the time (and be verified and triple-checked in the process), these misannouncements were far less frequent. In fact, I can honestly say that I don't remember them ever happening at all!)
And yet, once again, the news came out that the great Jerry Lee Lewis had passed away (announced by TMZ, no less, who seem to have representatives hiding behind the door of every single celebrity around the world, just waiting to scoop the world with their shocking announcements.)
They quickly back-pedaled, of course ... but as we've seen time and time again of late (Tony Dow and Tanya Roberts immediately come to mind) in the short time it takes to print the retraction, the celebrity in question actually DOES pass away in the meantime ... leading one to conclude that MOST of this information is well-founded and these news sources are jumping the gun just a bit in wanting to be the first to announce the inevitable. (kk)
Despite the length of Thursday pre-finale post, there are still a more few things that I wanted tocover.
Lewis had been ill and struggling for a long time (that we knew) ...
But I didn't realize that just the week before he was unable to attend the ceremony inducting him into The Country Music Hall Of Fame. (The official word at the time was that Lewis was too sick with the flu to attend ... obviously, there was more to his absence than that.)
Hank Williams, Jr. inducted Jerry Lee during the ceremony ... and Kris Kristofferson presented him the award at his sick bed.
Jerry Lee sent this acceptance note to be read at the ceremony:
“Dear friends and fans in Nashville,
It
is with heartfelt sadness and disappointment that I write to you today
from my sick bed, rather than be able to share my thoughts in person. I
tried everything I could to build up the strength to come today - I've
looked so forward to it since I found out about it earlier this year. My
sincerest apologies to all of you for missing this fine event, but I
hope to see you all soon.
To be inducted into the Country Music
Hall of Fame is the highest honor in Country music. Through over 60
years singing music professionally, country has always been the genre
where I felt the most at home - between my fellow artists, the radio and
the industry players -- some of them anyway. I am honored to be going
into that Hall of Fame rotunda with some of my heroes - Hank Williams
Sr., Jimmie Rodgers and the like - not to mention so many amazing
friends who have been so good to me through the years.
Thank you
all for your support and love and for electing me into the Country Music
Hall of Fame, and most of all, thanks to God for allowing me to
experience this honor while I am still here. Since I could not be
in-person with you today, I have asked one of my closest and dearest
friends to accept this great honor for me - and he's no stranger to this
process: the legendary, Kris Kristofferson.”
In our piece on Thursday, we recounted the infamous tale of Lewis showing up at Graceland, drunk and determined to confront The King (always the showman, Jerry Lee crashed his car thru the gates on the property ... got to make that entrance!) ...
But an earlier incident at an Alan Freed Show in 1958 kind of set the stage for his outrageous stage antics well before this happened.
At Freed's Big Beat Show, an argument developed backstage between Lewis and Chuck Berry as to who should close the show. Ultimately, Berry won the right to wrap things up for the night ... so after putting on an especially rollicking show that had the audience screaming for more, Lewis capped off his set by setting his piano on fire! (Keep in mind this was 1958 ... WELL before artists like The Who and Jimi Hendrix worked this type of behavior into their stage acts.) As Jerry Lee walked off the stage, piano ablaze, he passed Berry and said "Follow that." (The scene was depicted beautifully in the film "Great Balls Of Fire," starring Dennis Quaid as The Killer.)
Primed to be perhaps the greatest showman on earth after this performance, Lewis' career took an immediate tumble just two months later when it was disclosed by The British Press that he had married his 13 year old cousin. Literally over night his career was brought to a halt. He never recovered from the scandal in the rock and roll arena ... but was able to carve out quite a career in the country music field, hitting Billboard's Country Chart 65 times, including SIX #1 Records. (The biggest was his remake of "Chantilly Lace" released in 1972, which topped the country charts for three weeks ... but his most famous country tune is probably "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out Of Me)," a #2 Hit from 1968. It was Jerry Lee's country career that was being honored the week before he died ... 65 chart hits ... six #1's, 19 Top Tens and 49 Top 40. (In the scheme of things, his success on the country charts FAR outweigh his success in the pop and rock and roll field ... once the marriage scandal broke, Jerry Lee's career was essentially over in the rock and roll world ... his legacy is just four Top 20 hits ... "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" (#3, 1957), "Great Balls Of Fire" (#2, 1958), "Breathless" (#7, 1958) and "High School Confidential" (#21, 1958.
Lewis was the last surviving member of the inaugural class of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, outliving Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry (as far as I know, there were no fires set during the ceremony), The Everly Brothers, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and (in the non-performer category) the aforementioned Alan Freed. (Also inducted that year was Sam Phillips, proprietor of Sun Records down in Memphis, the label that first signed both Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley to recording contracts. Their Million Dollar Quartet session held a few years later after most of the labels biggest stars had already left Sun for greener pastures also included Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. Roy Orbison and Charlie Rich were also young Sun labelmates ... old Sam had quite the ear for picking talent!)
https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jerry-lee-lewis
Keeping show business all in the family, Jerry Lee boasted two famous cousins ... TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and country music star Mickey Gilley, who also just recently passed.
And, for anyone wondering whatever happened to Jerry Lee's 13 year old bride Myra Gale Brown, she's been with us the whole time, preferring to live out of the spotlight after her 1970 divorce from The Killer. Now in her 70's, Myra says she is STILL referred to as a "child bride" all these years later! (I guess it's the role that defines her.)
Incredibly, when they married in 1958, she was already Jerry Lee's third bride! (And he was only 23 at the time!)
Lewis was married a total of seven times and, as we pointed out in a link provided in Thursday's posting, there was some suspicious behavior and circumstances surrounding some of those marriages ... his fifth wife, Shawn Michelle Phillips Lewis, died after just 77 days of marriage. Two other wives died during their marriage to Jerry Lee, one drowned in their swimming pool (and, even more ironic, one of Jerry Lee's sons, Steve Allen Lewis ... now how cool is that after the clip we ran the other day! ... ALSO died by drowning) ... and a second son (Jerry Lee Lewis, Jr.) died in a car accident. Stranger still, Lewis' wife at the time of his death (Judith Brown) was previously married to Myra's brother!!! (You can't make this shit up, folks!!!) Maybe young Myra was just one of the lucky ones who got out in time!
Naturally, once the word of Lewis' passing spread, the tributes poured in ...
Here are just a few:
Jerry Lee Lewis was beloved by everyone, a real bundle of talent, energy, and everything else necessary to be a star. He just passed away. Our warmest regards to his wife, Judith, and family. He will be missed!
— Donald Trump, former U.S. President
Without Jerry Lee Lewis, I wouldn’t have become who I am today. He was groundbreaking and exciting, and he pulverized the piano. A brilliant singer, too. Thank you for your trailblazing inspiration and all the rock ‘n’ roll memories.
— Elton John
Jerry Lee was a Christian, an American icon and the greatest piano player in the world. People will be listening to ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and ’Whole Lot of Shakin’ 500 years from now. I will miss him. God bless you, Jerry Lee.
- Dennis Quaid
God bless Jerry Lee Lewis - peace and love to his family.
— Ringo Starr
Goodbye to the Killer – RIP
- Keith Richards
R.I.P. JLL the KILLER - What a man
— Ronnie Wood
Jerry Lee Lewis has passed … REST EASY, KILLER … you were one of a kind …
I will FOREVER cherish my time with Jerry Lee on and off the stage. No question, one of the best to ever do it and one of the godfathers and architects of rock n roll. Your music will always live through me, and the rest of the world! Rest in peace and Rock on, Killer!!
- Kid Rock
Sad to hear of the passing of Jerry Lee Lewis. Love his music and I was hugely influenced by his records and live performances, which were always full of fire and inspiration! No one could touch him! God Bless you, Jerry Lee.
- - John Fogerty
Love & Mercy to Jerry Lee Lewis
- - Brian Wilson
It was an honor to be his friend. His passing closes out an explosive era of American music. Last man standing baby!!!
- - Toby Keith
I'm extremely saddened to hear that Jerry Lee Lewis has passed. While I admired his rock & roll records, I really loved and was heavily influenced by his country records when I was a kid. One of the most unique and soulful voices that country music has ever known. RIP JerryLee
- Travis Tritt
He was Country and Rock-and-roll!!! Jerry Lee Lewis, a pioneer in the birth of rock, was an iconic legend. It was an honor to know you!
- - Marie Osmond
Sadly, one of the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll has passed. A rebel to the end.
RIP, Jerry Lee Lewis
- - Gene Simmons
RIP Jerry Lee Lewis. The Killer has gone. He could play that piano, boy. Think I gotta play me some Lewis Boogie.
- - Stephen King
And, in other news, Legendary Hall-of Fame Dee Jay (a HUGE friend and fan of Forgotten Hits) Scott Shannon officially announced his retirement on Friday Morning during his on WCBS-FM in New York City.
(See Scott, if you hadn't picked the week to retire when Jerry Lee Lewis died, you would have been our top story of the day today!!! But now you're stuck all the way down here!!! lol)
Just kidding -
We love this guy ... heck, EVERYBODY loves this guy.
Word is that his last shown on WCBS-FM Mornings will be Friday, December 16th ...
He will continue to host the syndicated radio program "America's Greatest Hits" as well as program his baby, The True Oldies Channel.
We wish you MUCH peace and happiness, my friend. You have ALWAYS gone out of your way to support and help promote our efforts here in FH and you are much loved in the media that you chose to pursue and excell in. The world will miss you in the mornings (but hey, now you can sleep in once in a while!) Glad to know that we'll still be able to hear that familiar voice on The True Oldies Channel for more years to come.
(I've got to tell you - and this is for the benefit of everyone else out there reading this - when you get a phone call from Scott Shannon it is the COOLEST thing in the world - because that voice is just so IMMEDIATELY recognizable - it's a voice known to MILLIONS and MILLIONS of people around the globe - but when you pick up the phone and hear it coming thru the other end you know INSTANTLY who it is before he ever even tells you. It really is the coolest thing - and I still get excited, even after all these years, to hear it.)
We wish you the very best in whatever you decide to do from here on in. And please DO stay in touch with us ...
Man, we could do a weekly column on Scott Shannon stories that could run for DECADES!!! This guy has seen and heard it all ... and been there first-hand for most of it!!! (That's an open invitation for a Scott Shannon Column running in Forgotten Hits. Granted, the pay ain't that great ... but we sure would love to hear from ya!!!) kk
We heard it here first, thanks to FH Reader David Lewis ...
Yes, he moved the needle.
First class act all the way - he shall be missed!
David Salidor
David Salidor, Scott Shannon and Steve Leeds, SiriusXM
(at the launch part for the Bobby Rydell book) photo by Derek Storm
