"The Killer", R&R legend Jerry Lee Lewis, has died. He was 87.
Jerry Lee was a Louisiana and Mississippi teenager famous for his music and family connections (tenuously related to Elvis, Mickey Gilley, Jimmy Swaggart and Conway Twitty, as I recall), outrageously infamous for setting his piano on fire during live shows, and for marrying his under-age close cousin (in spite of his own deep religious convictions). He routinely kicked his piano bench away and played standing and dancing, even beating the keys with his feet and howling into a microphone. His self-taught style made him a master at Boogie-Woogie, Honkey-Tonk, Delta Blues, and R&R. There was a whole lotta shakin' goin' on in Jerry's life.
He set performance standards which were followed by other musicians thru the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Several R&R groups destroyed their instruments on stage after live performances in the 1960s and '70s in salute to "The Killer". "The Who" even blew their amps up and smashed their $8,000 guitars imitating him.
Jerry Lee's career spanned 5 decades, beginning in 1956.
https://youtu.be/8ydiFsRuesM
So long, Killer. Thanks for a lifetime of memories.
"Who's gonna play that old piano,
now that Killer's gone?"
Frank T
