Jerry Lee Lewis

An extrovert showman who became one of the primary figures in the revolutionary rock'n'roll explosion of the 1950s, Jerry Lee Lewis helped to transform music - and with it, youth culture - forever. Lewis started young, his parents mortgaging their farm to buy him a piano, and he was heavily influenced by local black musicians as he developed his distinctive boogie woogie piano style. Expelled from his church school for playing "the devil's music", he auditioned for Sun Records where he became a regular session pianist, playing for many Sun artists including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins. Lewis' own hits began in 1957 with the wild rockers Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On and Great Balls Of Fire, capturing young imaginations with his dynamic live appearances in the movies High School Confidential and Jamboree; while outraging the moral majority with sexual overtones. His career went into free-fall, however, as scandal erupted when it was revealed he'd married his 13-year-old cousin, but he eventually repaired his reputation with a series of country records, including the late 1960s hit singles Another Place Another Time, To Make Love Sweeter For You and What Made Milwaukee Famous. Interest revived again following the 1989 movie of his life, Great Balls Of Fire, and he went on to record with Van Morrison and and embarked on rock'n'roll revival tours with Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Lewis' 2007 album Last Man Standing Live, featuring guest appearances from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Page and Rod Stewartl, became his best-ever seller.