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‘The Killer’, as the musician was known, expired this Friday at the age of 86. Since 2019 he had been presenting conditions in his health. The author of hits like “Great balls of fire” belonged to a generation of great musicians like Elvis Presley.
At the age of 87, one of the essential voices of rock & roll faded away. Jerry Lee Lewis passed away after presenting a series of health problems after suffering a stroke in 2019. He was the last survivor of a generation of rock greats like Elvis Presley and Little Richard.
The son of a former smuggler, he was born in the state of Louisiana, in the United States. His first steps in music were taken with a guitar, but it was the piano that captivated him. At the age of nine he had his first piano from his father’s hand, a luxury that only wealthy families could afford. This was not his case, his parent had to mortgage the house to be able to acquire the percussive string device.
Cousin of one of the pioneers of “televangelism”, Lewis grew up between the notes of religious and popular music. At 16, he dropped out of school to become a preacher and interpreter. On his path of musical discovery he attended the fundamentalist Bible college ‘Southwestern Assemblies of God’ in Waxahachie, Texas, from which he was expelled for playing the “wrong” music, according to the AP news agency.
Hits such as ‘Great balls of fire’, ‘Whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on’ and ‘Breathless’ are remembered from his first singles, songs that helped him ascend the paths of the music industry of the time. One of his main works was carried out in conjunction with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. A collaboration they called the “million dollar quartet”.
They called him “The killer” (“The murderer”) because of the strength and the peculiar way in which he interpreted his songs. In the midst of constantly rising fame, he set fire to a piano when he learned that he was going to be the opening act, a kind of opening act for the main show, for guitarist Chuck Berry, another of the most influential in the history of rock & roll.
Marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, being married to his previous wife, caused a downturn in his artistic career. Included in the radio blacklist and with profits falling to practically zero, the news of his new nuptials prevented him from being the substitute for Elvis Presley at the forefront of the genre they both represented.
He struggled with his drug and alcohol addiction, was involved in legal scandals and suffered from illnesses. His record includes three Grammy awards and an important list of important performances with music stars such as Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger.
Jerry Lee Lewis was an eternal rebel. It is said that one of his Bible college classmates once asked him if he still played the devil’s music, to which he commented that it was “strange” because the very music for which he was expelled from the educational center “it is the same kind of music that they play in their churches today”.
With AP and EFE
