.jpg)
The Grandma wants to talk about the career of the last legend of Rock and Roll.
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935-October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist.
Nicknamed the Killer, he was described as Rock and roll's first great wild man and one of the most influential pianists of the 20th century.
A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
Crazy Arms sold 300,000 copies in the South, and his 1957 hit Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On shot Lewis to fame worldwide. He followed this with the major hits Great Balls of Fire, Breathless, and High School Confidential. His rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin once removed.
His popularity quickly eroded following the scandal and with few exceptions such as a cover of Ray Charles's What'd I Say, he did not have much chart success in the early 1960s. His live performances at this time were increasingly wild and energetic. His 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg is regarded by many music journalists and fans in general as one of the wildest and greatest live rock albums ever.
In 1968, Lewis made a transition into country music and had hits with songs such as Another Place, Another Time. This reignited his career, and throughout the late 1960s and 1970s he regularly topped the country-western charts; throughout his seven-decade career, Lewis had 30 songs reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Country and Western Chart. His No. 1 country hits included To Make Love Sweeter for You, There Must Be More to Love Than This, Would You Take Another Chance on Me, and Me and Bobby McGee.
Lewis's successes continued throughout the decades and he embraced his rock and roll past with songs such as a cover of The Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace and Mack Vickery's Rockin' My Life Away.
In the 21st century, Lewis continued to tour around the world and released new albums. His 2006 album Last Man Standing was his best selling release, with over a million copies worldwide. This was followed by Mean Old Man in 2010, another of his best-selling albums.
More information: Jerry Lee Lewis
Lewis had a dozen gold records in rock and country. He won four Grammy awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.
Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and his pioneering contribution to the genre was recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
In 1989, his life was chronicled in the movie Great Balls of Fire, starring Dennis Quaid.
He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022.
In 2003, Rolling Stone listed his box set All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology at number 242 on their list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
In 2004, they ranked him No. 24 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Lewis was the last surviving member of Sun Records' Million Dollar Quartet and the album Class of '55, which also included Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley.
Music critic Robert Christgau said of Lewis: His drive, his timing, his offhand vocal power, his unmistakable boogie-plus piano, and his absolute confidence in the face of the void make Jerry Lee the quintessential rock and roller.
Lewis was born to Elmo Kidd Lewis Sr. and Mary "Mamie" Herron Lewis in Ferriday, Louisiana.
In November 1956, Lewis traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to audition for Sun Records. Lewis began recording prolifically as a solo artist and as a session musician for other Sun artists, including Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.
In May 2022, Lewis was announced as a member-elect to the Country Music Hall of Fame, to be inducted in October 2022.
Lewis was an incendiary showman who often played with his fists, elbows, feet, and backside, sometimes climbing on top of the piano during gigs and even apocryphally setting it on fire.
Like Chuck Berry's guitar playing, Lewis's piano style became synonymous with rock and roll, having influenced generations of piano players.
On October 28, 2022, Lewis died at his home in Nesbit, Mississippi, following a bout of pneumonia, at the age of 87.
More information: The Guardian
No comments:
Post a Comment