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Jerry Lee Lewis

Cousin of televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Twice, he has overlapped his marriages. The 1957 marriage to his very young cousin was particularly troublesome in England, where they don't take kindly to that sort of thing as they do in the South. He was booed offstage and cut the tour short.

Timeline

29 Sep 1935 Jerry Lee Lewis born, Turtle Lake, Calhoun Plantation, near Ferriday LA.
1940 Starts to play piano.
1949 First public performance, at a Ford dealership in Ferriday. $13 in tips.
21 Feb 1952 Marries first wife, Dorothy Barton.
15 Sep 1954 Marries second wife, Jane Mitcham.
Oct 1954 Divorces first wife, Dorothy Barton.
2 Nov 1954 Son Jerry Lee Lewis Jr., born, to Jane Mitcham.
1956 Auditions for Sun Records, Memphis.
4 Dec 1956 The Million Dollar Quartet: Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash jam at Sun Studio.
11 Dec 1957 Marries 13 year old cousin, Myra Gail Brown (third wife).
Apr 1958 Divorces second wife, Jane Mitcham.
27 Feb 1959 Second son, Steve Allen, born. Named after TV host.
1963 Contract with Sun expires.
9 Dec 1970 Divorces third wife, Myra Gail.
1971 The Jerry Lee Lewis Show.
1971 Mother dies.
1973 First son, Jerry Lee Lewis Jr. dies in a jeep crash.
23 Nov 1976 Jerry Lee Lewis arrested, outside Elvis' estate Graceland.
Jul 1979 Father, Elmo Lewis, dies.
1981 Hospitalized for an ulcer, given 50/50 chance of survival.
1983 Marries fourth wife, Shawn Michelle Stevens.
1983 Fourth wife, Shawn Michelle Stevens, dies of a drug overdose.
24 Apr 1984 Marries fifth wife, Kerrie McCarver.


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