The history of Rock ‘n’ Roll dates back to the 1940s and has its roots in RnB, jazz, jump blues, gospel, and boogie-woogie music, all African-American music styles. But when you think of early rock, Johnny Cash and Elvis are your guys.
The first rockers included talented black musicians such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin’ Wolf, and Antoine “Fat” Domino. Rock became a global sensation after it was whitewashed. Musicians like Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis often covered songs written and performed by black musicians, and their records sold millions.
Elvis’s version of Hound Dog for example was originally written for and recorded by the first queen of rock, Big Mama Thornton. Another rocker who found success covering works by black artists and developed into one of the early rock icons was Jerry Lee Lewis.
And his whitewash went far farther than cultural appropriation.
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis was a singer, pianist, and songwriter during the start of the Rock ‘n’ Roll movement in the 1940s and 1950s. You might not know any of his songs off the top of your head, but you have surely heard his two famous songs: Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On and Great Balls of Fire.
Jerry was born to a poor family in Ferriday, Louisiana, in 1953. His parents recognized there was something special about their son. The Lewises mortgaged their house for $250 and used the money to buy Jerry Lee Lewis a piano.
This may have seemed like an insane gamble but Jerry Lee Lewis showed extreme talent even at a young age, a naturally gifted singer, songwriter, and pianist who could play a piece of music by ear and re-create any song he heard after listening to it once. Jerry Lee Lewis was a fantastic musician, but his personal life was chaotic.
He was married seven times, accused of murdering one or two of his wives, and was married to more than one woman at a time. What happened in all of these marriages?
The Marriages
Beyond his hit charts, Whole Lotta Shakin Goin’ On and Great Balls of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis was famous for his many marriages, several of which were incredibly controversial. Jerry Lee Lewis’s first wife was a girl named Dorothy Barton, the daughter of a local preacher.
The pair were married when Jerry Lee Lewis was only 16 years old. As one would expect with two teenagers in a relationship, it didn’t last long. The pair were married for 20 months, from February 1952 to October 1953.
Jerry’s second wife was a woman named Sally Jane Mitcham. This was the first of his questionable marriages because the pair were married in September 1953, 23 days before Jerry and Dorothy’s divorce was finalized.
Bigamy aside, Jerry Lee Lewis and Sally had two children together, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr in 1954 and another son Ronnie Guy Lewis in 1956. Tragically Jerry Lee Lewis Jr died in 1973 when he was 19 years old. Sally and Jerry Lee Lewis’s marriage lasted four years, with Jerry filing for divorce in October 1957.
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Jerry Lee Lewis’s third marriage was so controversial that it had a direct negative impact on his career. In December 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis married his third wife, Myra Gale Brown. Myra was Jerry’s first cousin once removed.
To make matters even worse, Jerry was 22 at the time of his marriage, while Myra was only 13. Yes, she was a minor. Jerry Lee Lewis told people that Myra was 15 when they were married (as if that was any better); the truth was when she had their first child Steven, Myra was 14. Once again, Jerry Lee Lewis married his third wife before his second divorce was finalized.
The truth about Myra and Jerry Lee Lewis came to light while he was on tour in Britain. A reporter heard the truth and published an article about the incestuous child bride situation the rocker was hiding.
When Jerry stepped onstage to play his fourth concert, he was booed off the stage, and the tour was canceled after only three performances. Jerry Lee Lewis’s response? He said he had no idea child brides were taboo in Britain and that it was normal in the southern United States.
By the time Mr. and Mrs. Lewis returned to America, the word had spread across the pond. Newspaper headlines called Jerry Lee Lewis a disgrace to the country.
Their second child Phoebe was born in 1963, and their son Steven sadly drowned in a swimming pool at the age of 3 in 1962. Six years later, Myra filed for divorce from Jerry Lee Lewis on the grounds of adultery and physical and mental abuse.
Jerry Lee Lewis married his fourth wife, Jaren Elizabeth Pate, in October 1971. The two had a daughter, Lori Lee Lewis, in 1972, but their marriage ended in June 1982. Jaren drowned in a pool at her friend’s home, where she was staying until Jaren and Jerry’s marriage was finalized.
Some people think Jerry Lee Lewis was responsible for her drowning and support the idea by mentioning how Steven from his previous marriage also drowned in a swimming pool. While it makes a juicy story, he was not on the property, and Jaren died at someone else’s home.
In 1983, Jerry Lee Lewis married his fifth wife, Shawn Stephens. The marriage only lasted for 77 days. Shawn died of a methadone overdose and was found deceased in her bed. A journalist named Richard Ben Cramer accused Lewis of murdering Shawn and abusing her.
When she was found, Shawn was said to have bruises and blood on her body. This allegation was taken seriously, and Jerry Lee Lewis ended up in front of a grand jury, who found Jerry not guilty of the murder of Shawn Stephens and not guilty of abusing Shawn when she was alive.
In 1984, Jerry Lee Lewis married his sixth wife, Kerrie McCarver, the longest time he was married to someone until that point. The pair were together for 21 years and had a child, Jerry Lee Lewis III. The couple divorced in 2005.
And last but not least, Jerry Lee Lewis’s seventh and final wife. In 2012 Jerry married Judith Lewis (née Brown). If the surname Brown sounds familiar, you have heard it before. It turns out that Judith was Myra’s brother’s ex-wife. That is correct: he married 13-year-old Myra and then married her sister-in-law decades later.
Was Jerry Lee Lewis Guilty of Murder?
A grand jury said Jerry Lee Lewis was not guilty in the death of his fifth wife, Shawn, and he was not present when his fourth wife, Jaren, drowned in a swimming pool. So why do people still believe he murdered at least one, if not two, of his wives?
It was common knowledge that Jerry Lee Lewis drank and abused drugs. Jerry entered the Betty Ford Clinic for treatment for his painkiller addiction which was so severe that in 1984, one-third of his stomach had to be removed due to perforated ulcers caused by substance abuse.
He also had the nickname “the Killer,” which he earned back in grade school. According to most of the stories, including ones from Jerry himself, he and another boy were fighting, and when a teacher physically tried to separate the fighting kids, Jerry grabbed hold of the man’s tie and tried to strangle him.
In 1976 Jerry accidentally shot his bassist. Jerry picked up his .357 Magnum and tried to shoot a bottle of coke across the room. The bullet ricocheted off the bottle and hit his bass player square in the chest.
Fortunately, the man fully recovered and was not seriously injured. Still, there is another example of irrational and dangerous behavior from Jerry Lee Lewis that can’t be ignored.
In November 1976, two months after he shot his bassist, Lewis was arrested outside Elvis’s home in Graceland because he was planning on shooting Elvis. According to Jerry, Elvis had been trying to get in touch with Jerry and did so by phone that evening; Elvis asked for Jerry to come to his home.
Jerry claims he was busy and hit a nightclub enjoying champagne when someone handed him a gun. Jerry “suddenly” remembered that his good buddy Elvis had invited him over. So after taking some drugs and taking a bottle of champagne for the road, he drove to Graceland.
Upon reaching Graceland, Jerry Lewis crashed his car into the property gates, got out of the car, waved the gun around, and shouted for Elvis to come outside. Elvis watched the insanity from a CCTV in his home while Elvis’s cousin Harold was on guard duty at the gate.
Lewis was said to have shouted for Elvis to come out, and “soon we’ll find out who’s the King.” After Jerry tried to throw a bottle of champagne out of the car window, which was not rolled down, the cops were called. With these incidents, along with several ex-wives claiming Lewis was abusive and the substance abuse issues, it is easy to think maybe Jerry killed Shawn in a fit of drug-fueled rage.
It is unknown if Shawn was an active drug user before she was found dead. If Jerry Lee Lewis knew about her struggles with drugs and made them very accessible for her, he could have been accused of culpable negligence.
Culpable negligence involves “engaging in acts that a rational person recognizes pose a risk of serious injury or death to others, or a wanton or callous disregard for the consequences of one’s actions.” Some examples of situations in which a person may be charged with culpable (criminal) negligence include: A person under the influence of alcohol or drugs got in the car and drove at a dangerous speed and hit a pedestrian who was seriously injured or died. Playing with a loaded gun that “just went off” and hit someone, leaving a young child unattended in a sealed car in hot weather.
A grand jury found Jerry Lee Lewis not guilty of murder, but he could have been charged with culpability. Jerry Lee Lewis died on October 28, 2022.
Top Image: Jerry Lee Lewis lived a violent and turbulent life, but did his crimes include the murder of two of his wives? Photo credit: Larry Philpot, www.soundstagephotography.com / CC BY-SA 3.0.
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