Rock ‘n’ Roll Legend Dead at 87

A pioneer of the rock ‘n' roll genre, and an international star with a larger than life personality has died.

Jerry Lee Lewis roared onto America's national consciousness with iconic hits like “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On.”

Lewis, 87, was the last surviving star of the golden age of rock ‘n' roll defined by the musical genius of greats like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.

USA TODAY reports:

For the longest time, it seemed that if Jerry Lee Lewis wasn't dead already, then obviously nothing could kill him. But what alcohol, painkillers, a perforated stomach ulcer, angry fathers and general recklessness couldn't do, advancing age finally did. The seemingly indestructible rock ‘n' roll wild man died Friday at 87 at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, near Memphis.

Along with Little Richard and Fats Domino, Lewis established the piano as a rock 'n' roll instrument. In 1957, his “Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On” and “Great Balls of Fire,” two of the most outrageous hits of rock 'n' roll's first generation, ignited the pop, country and R&B charts simultaneously. 

Lewis didn't just play the piano, he attacked it, pummeling the lower register with rock-steady left-hand lines and ripping across the keyboard with slashing glissandos. He smashed the keys with his foot; he kicked the piano stool out from under him and continued to pound away.

Lewis performed in a 1958 teen flick called “High School Confidential,” and his real life was every bit as lurid as the film's title promised. On the opening night of disc jockey Alan Freed's “Big Beat Show” in March 1958, after losing an argument about whether he or Chuck Berry should close the show, Lewis poured a bottle of gasoline on his piano and set it ablaze. “They had to call the fire department and everything,” Lewis remembered in Rick Bragg's 2014 biography “Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story.”

Towards the end of his life, Lewis reflected on the wilder stories that punctuated and, at times, threatened to derail his career. Lewis admitted that “I've done some crazy things.” Acknowledging the repercussions of his mistakes, the aging rocker added “I messed up along the way and got what was coming to me.”

Reaction to the loss of Lewis swiftly poured in.

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