Country Music Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis Passes Away at 89

Country Music Hall of Fame's newest inductee and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Jerry Lee Lewis has passed away at age 87. Lewis, also known as "The Killer" a rock and country music pioneer died Friday, October 28, at his home near Memphis, Tennessee.

A trailblazing pianist, Lewis helped popularize rockabilly and rock and roll with a run of hits in 1957 and ’58 starting with crossover hit “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” and followed with “Breathless,” “High School Confidential,” and especially “Great Balls of Fire” which made him as important of a member of the famed Sun Studios sound as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins (together known as the Million Dollar Quartet). "You Win Again" helped give Lewis four Top 5 country songs (and two No. 1 hits) in a row. He was a true superstar.

"Jerry Lee doesn't walk on stage and politely thank an audience for being there," Hank Williams Jr. stated at the 2022 Medallion Ceremony. "Jerry Lee doesn't ask for your attention. He demands it. He doesn't take a stage, he commands it."

By 1968, Lewis had stormed back with 11 straight Top 10 records that would carry him into the mid-70s. "Chantilly Lace," "There Must Be More to Love Than This" and "What Made Milwaukee Famous" were three of his No. 1 songs, and he'd continue to chart into the early '80s.

Lewis would go on to record dozens of subsequent albums, and in 1986 he became one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Following the ceremony, he is credited with starting impromptu jam sessions, which has become a Hall tradition.

Lewis is also a recipient of the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lewis is survived by his wife Judith and four surviving children, plus extended family. Services will be announced in the coming days. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations in Lewis' honor to the Arthritis Foundation or MusiCares.