A lot of ink has been spilled about his close blood relationship with Myra, and the fact that she was only 13 and still believed in Santa Claus when the pair were married. Tweets. In 1977 he said, Look, weve only got one life to live. Trump Melts Down Over Murdoch Admitting Fox Lied About Election Fraud "He told her, in his final days, that he welcomed the hereafter,and that he was not afraid.". Her Instagram account has been dormant since early 2016. The British tabloids went ballistic, and after a few dates, the tour was cancelled. We kept thinking every year, every six months, that it was going to go away, theyre going to stop talking about it, and it just didnt happen. Im here to see Elvis, he announced. 2, In Loving Memories: The Jerry Lee Lewis Gospel Album, The SessionRecorded in London with Great Artists, By Request: More of the Greatest Live Show on Earth, She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left of Me), What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me), When He Walks on You (Like You Have Walked On Me), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Myra_Lewis_Williams&oldid=1138714619, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 05:24. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. However, she indicated that his 2012 marriage to the ex-wife of her brother had put a strain on their relationship. After further digging, the newspapers revealed that Myra Gale Brown was actually 13, his cousin, and that for the second time, Lewis had failed to get divorced before remarrying. I was getting to sell more records than Elvis. We took a lot of hits for the music itself. After a long buildup, when he gets to his final declarations of You know what I want/You know what I got to have, his voice turns into a taunting laugh that is prurient and menacing. However, upon landing in the country with his child-bride, it became clear that the Brits were not on board with Jerry Lee Lewis. Feb 11, 2016. Because of her marriage to Jerry Lewis, she was controversial. When all of this hit in London in 1958, it just took the world by storm. It bumped De Gaulle off the front page of the newspaper. With cheerful impenitence, Jerry Lee is shown correcting an interviewer: Myra was one day shy of her 13th birthday on their wedding day so she was actually twelve. Myra Gale Lewis Williams (ne Brown; born July 11, 1944) is an American author, best known for her controversial marriage at the age of 13 to rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis, who was her first cousin once removed and was 22 at the time. In 2016, Myra Lewis wrote a second book, The Spark That Survived. After thirteen years of marriage, they were divorced in 1970, when Myra charged that she has been subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable; Jerry Lee later said that it was all my faultshe caught me cheating. When we met, she described their relationship as a successful divorce, though more recently it seems theyve been clashing over his current, seventh wife. Things grew much worse when new information came back from the States: Myra was in fact 13, not 15. He went immediately from being a guy who made $10,000 a night to a guy who didnt make $100 a night.. (Couples married young in his Louisiana hometown of Ferriday, and he wed for the first time when he was 16 and had seven wives over the course of his life.). Lewis had been married twice before. In 1959, he and Myra had had their first child, Steven Allen Lewis. Lewis was reborn and transmogrified as a country artist, but he also still played breakneck rock & roll and was among the last people living from that musics original generation to do so. That Doesnt Justify What He Did Offstage, Charlie Watts Is a Jazz Drummer: The Lost Rolling Stone Interview. I was in England when they ran him out of the country, Kris Kristofferson has said, and it really seemed unfair to me, because he had no idea he was doing anything wrong. A neighbor found Steven facedown in the Lewises swimming pool. Brown played electric bass, and Lewis played piano and sang. He had drunk and fought and sinned across the land, chasing and chasing, and it would be noble to say that his desire for it all was reduced to insignificance by the death of his son, but it would be a lie, wrote Rick Bragg in his 2014 authorized biography, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story. My little brother was born because I begged my parents for a baby at ten years old.". Reviews were good, and Catch My Soul was a hit. She is the co-author of the book Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. It was the most notorious rock & roll romance of all time, the Big Bang of pop music scandal. He married a 13-year-old, Myra Gale Brown, who later said she was subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable. He shot his bass player, was a serial adulterer, abused drugs and alcohol and several other of his seven wives and thats just a partial list of transgressions. Additionally, his latest single was called High School Confidential, which, though unrelated to his relationship, did not help his case. Lewis, who was 22 at the time, had lied about her age in order for the wedding to happen, and hadnt yet been divorced from his second wife at the time of his and Myras wedding. A musician whod worked with the country singer Mickey Gilley asked Jerry Lee if he would consider driving to Nashvillle to record a song. In 2016 she published her memoir, The Spark That Survived. A few years ago, Rolling Stone sent me to the Lewis Ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi. Myra knew what he was doing, and she told him she would leave him. They would sit up late at Graceland talking. American actor Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis and Winona Ryder as Myra Gale Brown in the film "Great Balls of Fire!", a 1989 biopic of the famous rock 'n' roll musician. Winona Ryder: Myra Gale Brown Showing all 12 items Jump to: Photos (8) Quotes (4) Photos Quotes Myra Gale Brown : All I ever wanted was a little pink house with a blue door. To the mainstream educators, it was evil and wicked. Everything just came together and a major explosion happened.. She ran outside, calling his name. She has a career in real estate in Georgia since 1980 (under the name Myra Williams or Myra Lewis Williams). Lewis was 22. She was controversial in the news due to her marriage to Jerry Lewis. He kept recording, releasing more than 40 albums from 1958 to 2014. I never lost the first name 13-year-old-child-bride-MyraI think thats on my birth certificate now! Myra took Steven to church for the first time. Myra Gale Brown is known as Myra Lewis William today and she is an American author by profession. J Hes no longer part of my life. They had two children together and their marriage lasted thirteen years. On December 12, 1958, Myra Brown, 13, married Jerry Lee Lewis, 22, in Hernando, Mississippi (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) What allegedly fueled the fire was the press's discovery, after Lewis returned to Memphis, that Brown was the daughter of Lewis' cousin and bass player, JW Brown. [4] By the time they returned to Memphis, it had been discovered that Brown was not only Lewis' wife, she was also his first cousin once removed. The 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire, which starred Dennis Quaid as Lewis and a 17-year-old Winona Ryder as Myra, was based on Williams first book of the same name. What I wanted was a baby in my arms, a home, a husband, a kitchen to cook in, a yard to raise roses," Brown said. Back at home, he told Myra, If you ever leave me, Ill throw acid in your face, and then kissed her. But when they landed in New York, the reception was just as bad. "I was in England when they ran him out of the country," Kristofferson said. In the Eighties, the Jerry Lee Lewis legend suffered another serious discredit though it didnt resonate with much public awareness. She was married to her cousin, rock star Jerry Lee Lewis. Lewis who died Oct. 28 at his home in DeSoto County, Mississippi did terrible things, repeatedly, across the decades. erry Lee Lewis was rock & rolls original prodigal son. [19], Since 1980, Brown has enjoyed success as a real estate agent in Atlanta. What can you do but accept it? She described the memoir as her story of how to overcome lifes worst tragedies and your own dumbass decisions.. Little did they know what it was going to turn into.. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time Jerry Lee never saw Elvis again. As would soon become known, Myra Gale Lewis was in fact 13 years old. They were looking for a place to stick the knife into rock & roll. Rusty Brown is the brother of Jerry's third wife Myra - making the union even more. Myra Lewis Williams: Its not a story that ever went away. [5] She married her third husband, Richard Williams, in 1984, and joined his Century 21 Real Estate office. Collections; . Some people of long memory in Memphis still call it a case of abandonment, the one thing they cannot forgive. Into a brand, even: the Killer. And Jerry gave it to themwell, I did, I opened my mouth. If Myra doesnt go, he told them, Im not going.. When he disembarked at Heathrow Airport, a Daily Mail reporter met him on the tarmac and noticed there was a young girl in Lewis party. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time And Jerry gave it to themwell, I did, I opened my mouth. She had wanted to tell the story of a woman surviving difficult circumstances and inspire women to understand their own strengths,[18] so she published her memoir, The Spark That Survived, in 2016. The two of them were playful and affectionate during the shootjoking and giggling, poking and swatting each other, Jerry Lee even sneaking a kiss at one pointbut when the photos came back, the editors fell in love with a shot of him sitting alone at his childhood piano, and the piece was recast as a straight profile. Myra Gale Brown, also known today as Myra Lewis William, is an American author. Today the world remembers Jerry Lee Lewis as one of the greatest rock 'n' roll artists of all time. Post continues below. I have the devil in me! he shouted. The singer married his first wife, Dorothy Barton, when he was just 16. Instead director Jim McBride, who co-wrote the script with Jack Baran, ends up simply satirizing the argyle innocence and daffy exuberance of the 50s, according to The Times review. [4] Lewis asserted that Brown was 15 years old and was his wife of two months. Jerry Lewis. Sun stopped promoting him, radio stopped playing him. And still, the world remains fascinated by the marriagewhen the Wall Street Journal asked him about it recently, he said, I probably would have rearranged my life a little bit different, but I never did hide anything from people The newspapers in England came down heavy but they didnt faze me, really. They called Lewis a cradle robber.. He went immediately from being a guy who made $10,000 a night to a guy who didnt make $100 a night.". Jerry Lee Lewis wasnt just complicated; he was fucked up. And I really, truly wasnt a typical teenager. Jay" Brown. He wanted to go back to being Jerry Lee Lewis. Around the same time, Elvis Presley was involved with Priscilla Beaulieu, who was 14 when she met him. Williams said she considered herself an adult at the time of her marriage to the rock star, and people around the couple said she was "more mature than Jerry." Brown took a job with Memphis Gas, Light and Water, where he worked as a lineman. Trending I find living is nice and calm this way.. That little girl I used to be, she died. They said Jerry played to a half-empty house, and they booed and that kind of stuff, and that was not true. Im really glad I didnt though because its gotten better as Ive gotten older.. The fans there were so excited to see Jerry that the biggest problem was his safetyScotland Yard said, We dont know how to protect you. The people were climbing on the buildings, looking through windows trying to find us and we couldnt go out. Myra is currently in the news because of Jerry Lewis' death at 87 years old, 28 October 2022. In America, he told them, it was quite all right to marry at age 15, even at 10, provided you could find a husband. Browns daughter'," Brown later said when reflecting on the day. The press also learned that Myra was Jerry Lees cousin. Jerry Lee & Myra Lewis Interview ( 1958 ) robin haugsnes 5.68K subscribers Subscribe 793 Share 365K views 14 years ago Jerry telling about his tour in London, where everything went pretty bad,. People didn't know it at the time that they wed, but although she was listed as a 20-year-old, legally Brown was actually only 13 (via Biography). . That was what I was like, and Jerry was busy having fun, he was the true entertainer. By then Lewis was yelling, threatening the police. It wasnt harming me, it was harming somebody I loved, that was the pain of it. Thats exactly what it was.. The British press reacted with outrage. Others think he suspected Othello of having slept with his own wife. [5] The scandal over the marriage destroyed Lewis' promising rock and roll career,[8] although he subsequently found success in country music. Hed wait to see what came of it. Lewis didnt quite fit in that new world, but he could still be a startlingly authoritative rock & roll performer; and he proved it on a live album recorded at the Star-Club, the venue in Hamburg, Germany, where the Beatles had played legendary shows in 1962. Lewis' passing was announced on. CHESAPEAKE Myra Gail Brown was a child of the hydrogen bomb. He hit the gate, he went on, Cause Is drunk.. Lewis's latest marriage is to Judith Brown. First, Myra Gale Brown had been just 13 years old when they got married on Dec. 12, 1957. We want to hear it. Phoebe worked for him and when I visited her I would still see him, too. To some degree, Lewis and those who venerated him were able to spin his worst qualities into a kind of dark legend. I was serious-minded, I was like, We gotta take care of this and do this, and he was like, Wheres the piano? Thats what he is, thats what hes about. It turned out that she was a first-cousin once-removed and - shockingly - just 13 years old. Myra Gale Brown was born on July 11, 1944, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the daughter of Lois (ne Neal) and J.W. He also had to live with a terrible 1989 film about his early fame and scandal, Great Balls of Fire, starring Dennis Quaid in a cartoonish performance, based on Myras book. The 'Great Balls Of Fire' singer started performing in the early 1950s, in his late teens. After all, Presley's rock and roll rival, Jerry Lee Lewis, was nearly blacklisted from the music industry after he notoriously married his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown. My 1988 book and the resulting movie, Great Balls of Fire, were just the beginning. Jerry Lee Lewis would remain a mix of good news and bad until he was too old to trouble anybody much, but that was a long time and a lot of trouble later. Other times, it must have been like playing into a void. Didnt He, girl? The preachers hated it. Though he had gotten married again before his divorce was final, it also came out that his new wife was also his third cousin a 13-year-old named Myra Gale Brown. Though his rock career was forever marred by his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis eventually found success in country music. 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