Goodbye to the great icon of rock and roll, Jerry Lee Lewis.

"Jerry Lee Lewis, the hard-driving rockabilly artist whose pounding boogie-woogie piano and bluesy, country-influenced vocals helped define the sound of rock ’n’ roll on hits like 'Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On' and 'Great Balls of Fire,' and whose incendiary performing style expressed the essence of rock rebellion, died on Friday at his home in DeSoto County, Miss., south of Memphis. He was 87" (NYT). 

Here's Episode 59 of "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs": "'Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On' by Jerry Lee Lewis" — about the rise of Jerry Lee Lewis:

[H[e was deeply, deeply, religious, and for a while he studied at the Southwestern Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, in the hope of becoming a priest. Unfortunately, he was kicked out after playing the hymn “My God is Real” with a boogie feel, which according to the people in charge was inciting lust among the other students. This tension between religion and the secular world would recur throughout Lewis’ life, but by the time he signed to Sun Records, aged twenty-one, he was firmly on the side of the Devil....

The big break came when he read in a magazine about how it was Sam Phillips who had made Elvis into a star. He’d already tried RCA Records, the label Elvis was now on — they’d told him he needed to play a guitar. He’d blagged his way into an audition at the Grand Ole Opry, and the same thing had happened — he’d been told to come back when he played guitar, not piano....

Maybe Phillips would have more sense in him, and would see the greatness of a man who had been known to refer to himself, blasphemously, as “The Great I AM”. Jerry Lee knew that if he just got the right break he could be the greatest star of all time....

And here's Episode 66 : "'Great Balls of Fire' by Jerry Lee Lewis" about the fall:

[A]s the work proceeded, Jerry Lee became concerned. “Great Balls of Fire”? Didn’t that sound a bit… Satanic? And people did say that rock and roll was the Devil’s music.

He ended up getting into an angry, rambling, theological discussion with Sam Phillips, which was recorded and which gives an insight into how difficult Lewis must have been to work with, but also how tortured he was — he truly believed in the existence of a physical Hell, and that he was destined to go there because of his music:

[Excerpt: Jerry Lee Lewis and Sam Phillips, Bible discussion]

Sam Phillips, who appears to have had the patience of a saint, eventually talked Lewis down and persuaded him to get back to making music....

Much more in those podcasts.

2 days ago, there was a premature report that Lewis had died. I was glad to see he was still alive, but had to worry that he was close to the end. That got me listening to "The Complete Million Dollar Quartet" last night. Highly recommended.

I remember Jerry Lee Lewis from the 1950s. And I remember him from the 1980s, because that was when I played a lot of 50s rock and roll to entertain and educate my sons when they were little. "Great Balls of Fire" was a big favorite with them.