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Jerry Lee Lewis

Celebrity

Jerry Lee Lewis: Biography

Jerry Lee Lewis
3 photos
  • Birth Place: Ferriday, LA
  • Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 09/29/1935, Libra
  • Profession: Singer; songwriter; pianist
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Jerry Lee Lewis Fast Facts:
  • Took piano lessons as a child with two of his cousins, future country singer Mickey Gilley and future televangelist Jimmy Swaggart.
  • Received most of his musical education by sneaking into a black rhythm-and-blues club called Haney's Big House, owned by his uncle, Lee Calhoun.
  • Made his public debut at 14 in a Ford dealership parking lot, performing "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" with a local band.
  • Attended the Southwestern Bible Institute as a teen, but was asked to leave for performing a boogie-woogie rendition of the hymn "My God Is Real."
  • Rose to fame in 1957 with the early rock & roll hits "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Great Balls of Fire."
  • Marriage later that year to his 13-year-old second cousin, Myra Gale Brown, erupted into a scandal that nearly destroyed Lewis' career.
  • Reinvented himself as a country-and-western singer in the late 1960s, starting with the hit "Another Place, Another Time."
  • Along with Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Ray Charles, was included in the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class in 1986.
  • Re-recorded many of his hits for the 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire, starring Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder.
  • Jerry Lee Lewis Relationships:
  • Elmo Lewis - Father
  • Mamie Lewis - Mother
  • Jimmy Swaggart - Cousin
  • Mickey Gilley - Cousin
  • Myra Gale Brown - Ex-wife
  • Phoebe Lewis - Daughter
  • Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. - Son
  • Steve Allen Lewis - Son
  • Jaren Gunn - Ex-wife
  • Shawn Stephens - Wife (deceased)
  • Kerrie McCarver - Ex-wife
  • Lee Calhoun - Uncle
  • Elmo Lewis Jr. - Brother
  • Dorothy Barton - Ex-wife
  • Jane Mitcham - Ex-wife
  • Jerry Lee Lewis III - Son
  • Linda Gail Lewis - Sister
  • Frankie Jean Lewis - Sister
  • J.W. Brown - Cousin
  • Judith Brown - Wife
  • Jerry Lee Lewis Awards:
  • 1986 Grammy: Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording - Winner
  • College:
  • Attended Southwestern Bible Institute, Waxahachie, TX

Photos

Jerry Lee Lewis Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
Jerry Lee Lewis, Dick Clark ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
kid rock, jerry lee lewis Lester Cohen/WireImage.com
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