A Louisiana legend has passed away. Ferriday native Jerry Lee Lewis died today at the age of 87 at his Mississippi home south of Memphis. Baton Rouge Attorney Jim Brown knew Lewis from his days in Ferriday and says the piano player who called himself Killer had audiences dancing when he came on the scene in the 1950s.
“He was the pioneer,” said Brown. “He helped founded Rock n’ Roll, and he’s in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
He went into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Country Music Hall of Fame this year.
Lewis also won three Grammys.
His popularity took a major hit in the late 1950s once it was learned he married his 13-year-old cousin and Lewis was still married to his second wife. But Brown calls Lewis a survivor who re-made himself as a country music star.
“He went into the country genre of music and was a major star right up until he died, so we are going to miss Jerry Lee,” said Brown.
Lewis had several top ten country hits between 1967 and 1970, like What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me) and “She Still Comes Around.”
Lewis’ first public performance was at a car dealership in Ferriday in 1949. A few years later he began to make a name for himself performing rock and roll songs at clubs in and around the Ferriday, Natchez, Mississippi area. Brown says even though Lewis was a rock n’ star, he was a down to earth person when you met him.
“Jerry Lee would always ask about you and your family, he was very personable in that regard, some of these big music stars it’s all about them,” said Lewis.
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