Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29, 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana. He came from a poor family home, but his parents were able to buy him a piano and gave him piano lessons. At 21, Jerry Lee Lewis moved to Memphis, Tennesse, famous for its music scene. He worked as a bar pianist and was soon able to audition at Sun Records, where Elvis had already made his first recordings. The first single -Crazy Arms- sold well in the Southern States (300,000 records sold), but was not yet a national hit. The breakthrough came with the next single -Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On- which first made it into the country charts, then also into the national Billboard Top 100 (1957 USA number 3, UK number 8). Further chart hits followed such as -Great Balls Of Fire- (1957 USA number 2, UK number 1), -Breathless - (1958 USA number 7, UK number 8) and -High School Confidential- (1958 USA number 21, UK number 12). Jerry Lee Lewis' live shows became increasingly wild and spectacular. He played with his hands and feet and danced wildly around the piano. When it became known in 1958 that he had married a 13-year-old, his career seemed to be at an end. The audience was horrified and he had to break off his tour. His records were no longer played and he had to make do with appearances in small clubs. In the 60's Jerry Lee Lewis could gain a foothold again and still had some chart successes, but the great success did not materialize. In the course of the Rock'n'Roll Revival in the 60's he could inspire his audience on the stages of the world once again.
