Jerry Lee Lewis is an American singer and one of the leading rock and roll performers of the 1950s. American pianist and singer Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the last major pioneers of rock and roll, passed away at 87. He was equally well-known for his hits and the intrigues and controversies that characterized his life. In this article, let’s know what he left behind and Jerry Lee Lewis’s net worth. Let’s learn more about this.
About Jerry Lee Lewis:
On September 29, 1935, Jerry Lee Lewis was born into a low-income household in Ferriday, Louisiana. He developed a passion for playing the piano at the age of 9. Their parents mortgaged the family farm to buy him a piano worth $900farm. The youngster learned the guitar in a matter of days, and when his parents could not make their mortgage payments on time, they lost their homes.
The instrument was played in churches and bars in his hometown’s black area. Jerry Lee Lewis picks up the blues despite the segregation. He creates his unique sound by fusing R&B, gospel, country, and Boogie-Woogie.
Jerry Lee Lewis had impacted a whole generation of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, who stated about him in 1995: “He doesn’t play rock’n’roll, he’s rock’n’roll.” Jerry Lee Lewis was King Elvis Presley’s competition and his buddy.
He traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, the epicenter of modern American music, in 1956 and became one of the first artists to sign with the renowned record company Sun Records. In the same year, his meeting with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley led to the iconic Million Dollar Quartet recording session.
His debut album, Whole Lot of Shakin’ goin’ on, was released in 1957 and immediately displayed his unkempt fashion sense.
He attracts crowds as he violently beats the piano with his fingers, elbows, or feet, sending his stool waltzing in an errant dance step. This was at the beginning of rock.
This everlasting rebel, provocative to the point of lighting fire to his piano after a concert, furthering his status as the “bad boy” of rock.
Great Balls of Fire, the name of which would also be used for a documentary about his life in 1989, drove him to top sales a few months later and turned him into one of the most adored stars of the time.
Early Life:
As a teenager, Lewis studied to be a priest at the religious institute “Assembly of God” in Texas, secretly visiting blues clubs with his cousins and watching the masters of the genre play the piano. The hobby did not pass without a trace, and in the end, the young man was thrown out of the institute for “blasphemous” music.
Jerry’s first public performance took place in 1948 in his native Ferryday at an event dedicated to presenting a new Ford model; then, he began to play country music in bars and clubs. The first professional recordings were still far away.
In February 1952, a 17-year-old young man got married, and we would not have mentioned this fact, which at first glance has nothing to do with music, if since then, family failures and scandals had not accompanied the entire further personal life of the legendary rocker, directly affecting his musical career. Very soon, he left his first wife and, without divorcing her, married a second girl, thus becoming a “bigamist”. In October 1953, the loving guy nevertheless filed for a divorce. By this time, the second wife gave him a son, Jerry Lee Jr.
By the mid-50s, Jerry Lee was performing as Jerry LRR Lewis And His Pumping Piano, raping the piano “to the fullest” and knocking sounds out of the instrument not only with his fingers but also with his fists, legs, chin, and back of the body – not forgetting when this and sing! A few years later, when the artist gained all-American popularity, fans called him “Killer” for this playing technique.
He briefly competed in 1958 to succeed Presley as rock’s primary hitmaker when Presley was enlisted in the military. However, the press learns three damning facts about Lewis while he is on tour in England: he is married to 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown, she is his cousin, and he is still legally bound to his first wife. His tour is called off, he is banned from the radio, and his income falls from a significant sum to almost nothing in a matter of days.
Long after he had ceased having hits, Lewis rebuilt himself as a country musician in the 1960s, and the music business eventually forgave him. He has collaborated with some of the biggest musicians in the industry and earned three Grammy awards.
Lewis battled physical ailments, legal issues, and drug and alcohol abuse during the following few decades. His wife’s early death ended two of his numerous marriages. Early in the 1970s, Brown divorced him and claimed he had been physically and mentally abusive to her, almost driving her to commit suicide.
In The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, first published in 1975, he recalls how he convinced the animators to give him a second chance.
His bad boy behavior and subsequent titles, such as Great Balls of Fire, will help establish his reputation and make him one of the pillars of rock’n’roll.
Jerry Lee Lewis left his mark on American music with his 25 million records sold, forty albums, nine gold records, and his influence on the genre. Unsurprisingly, His talent allowed him to enter the Rock’n’roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and receive a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 for his entire career. In 1989, the biopic Great Balls of Fire helped reconcile him with the public and restore his legendary image.
Bad boy on the stage, he leads a rather hectic private life. The singer married seven times, the last of which was in March 2012 with Judith Brown. He will have seven children with four of his wives.
How Much Was Jerry Lee Lewis’ Net Worth?
Jerry Lee Lewis’ estimated net worth in 2022 at his passing was $10 million, demonstrating that he was one of the forefathers of rock and roll. His net worth, though, is said to be a little greater, at roughly $15.4 million.
Lewis had to work hard to earn it, though, as he did not grow up in a family where everyone had a silver spoon in their mouth.
His musical knowledge and talent allowed him to become one of the most well-known figures in the field. He is also considered the originator of rock and roll.
Death Of Jerry Lewis:
According to the same source, Louisianan rock great Jerry Lewis, who will forever be associated with the song Great Balls of Fire and was famous for his commanding stage presence and explosive piano playing, passed away from natural causes.
The last survivor of a generation of groundbreaking artists like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, Lewis died at his home in Memphis, Tenn., his rep Zach Farnum said in a statement.
He was still playing at the beginning of 2019. He spent some of his latter years with his seventh wife on his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi. But he postponed shows after a small stroke in May of that year.
