Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis (born September 29, 1935) is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. He is known by the nickname "The Killer".

An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis had hits in the late 1950s with songs such as "Great Balls of Fire", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Breathless" and "High School Confidential". However, Lewis' rock 'n' roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to his young cousin. He had little success in the charts following the scandal until his popularity recovered in the late 1960s after he extended his career to country and western music with songs such as "Another Place, Another Time". More country hits soon followed over the late 1960s and through the 1970s.

Lewis's successes continued throughout the decade and he embraced his rock 'n' roll past with songs such as a cover of the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" and "Rockin' My Life Away". In the 21st century Lewis continues to tour to audiences around the world and still releases new albums. One such new album, titled Last Man Standing, is his best selling to date at over a million copies sold worldwide.

Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine listed his box set All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology number 242 on their list of "500 greatest albums of all time". In 2004, they ranked him number 24 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. His live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is often regarded by many music journalists and fans as one of the wildest and greatest rock and roll concert albums ever.

Lewis is the last surviving member of Sun Records' Million Dollar Quartet and the Class of '55 album, which altogether included Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley, as well as Lewis himself.

Read more about Jerry Lee Lewis:  Early Life, Compositions

Famous quotes containing the words jerry, lee and/or lewis:

    Remember, a woman has to work harder than a man and have more patience in order to achieve success.
    Margaret Mary Morgan, U.S. suffragist, print shop owner, and politician. As quoted in Dianne Feinstein, ch. 5, by Jerry Roberts (1994)

    ...I am an abolitionist for the sake of my own race—Contact with the African degenerates our white race—I find the association with them injurious to my child—keenly as I watch to prevent it & his faithful nurse to help me ... She is a good woman & so are many of them—Still the race is a degraded one ...
    —Elizabeth Blair Lee (1818–?)

    So we must say Goodbye, my darling,
    And go, as lovers go, for ever;
    Tonight remains, to pack and fix on labels
    And make an end of lying down together.
    —Alun Lewis (1915–1944)