Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis (born September 29, 1935) is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist, as well as an early pioneer of the rock and roll movement. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Drug addiction and personal tragedies

Plagued by alcohol and drug problems after Myra divorced him in 1970, tragedy struck when his 19-year-old son Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. was killed in a road accident in 1973. Earlier during the sixties his second son Steve Allen Lewis had drowned in a swimming pool accident. Lewis' own erratic behaviour during the 1970s led to his being hospitalized after near-death from a bleeding ulcer. Following this his fourth wife drowned in a swimming pool under suspicious circumstances. Little more than a year later, his fifth wife was found dead at his home from a methadone overdose. Again addicted to drugs, Jerry Lee Lewis checked himself into the Betty Ford Clinic.

Related Topics:
1970 - 1970s - Ulcer - Methadone - Betty Ford Clinic

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While celebrating his 41st birthday in 1976 Lewis playfully pointed a gun at his bass player Butch Owens and thinking it was not loaded, pulled the trigger, shooting him in the chest. Owens miraculously survived. A few weeks later (November 23) he was involved in another gun-related arrest at Elvis Presley's Graceland residence. Lewis had been invited by Presley but security was unaware of the visit. When questioned about why he was at the front gate, Lewis displayed a gun and jokingly told the guard he had come to kill Presley.

Related Topics:
Butch Owens - November 23 - Elvis Presley - Graceland

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