# Jerry Lee Lewis Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 11, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644 "2021-02-11T00:09:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![19USMC69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ac91a4/32.png) [@19USMC69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/19USMC69)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/1 "2021-02-11T00:09:32Z")
Country recording artists like Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, et al are somewhat revered by the country music establishment. For example, when Merle Haggard died a concert was held in his honor. Considering his somewhat checkered past, I’m curious as to how JLL is thought of by the country music industry. Is he someone who the industry has just pushed aside because of his lifestyle? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/2 "2021-02-11T00:31:18Z")
Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire! I for one did not consider him known for being a country artist. Not anything like the ones you cite. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/3 "2021-02-11T00:43:01Z")
Jerry Lee Lewis has had quite a bit of success on the country charts but he’s viewed as a rock ‘n’ roll singer whose music often crosses over into country-western. In the early days of rock during the 50s, the borders between what was considered country, rock ‘n’ roll, and R&B were fuzzy. That’s why Elvis and Jerry Lee got a lot of airplay on both country radio stations and R&B stations. Likewise, artists that we would consider to be clearly in the country camp like Johnny Cash and George Jones were embraced by early rockers. ---
**Author:** ![19USMC69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ac91a4/32.png) [@19USMC69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/19USMC69)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/4 "2021-02-11T00:53:47Z")
Si\_Amigo, if you have the opportunity check out JLL’s “Killer Country” album. If you’re partial to more traditional country music, I’m pretty sure you’ll like it. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/5 "2021-02-11T13:09:16Z")
In the general vein of determining whether JLL is Rock or Country…or ok, just for an excuse to post it, here’s a fun, fairly recent (2006) collaboration with Jimmy Page covering Zep’s 'Rock ‘n’ Roll (Rockabilly ‘n’ Roll?): [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zo1k4sQmrn8/hqdefault.jpg "Jerry Lee Lewis "Rock 'n' Roll" (featuring Jimmy Page on guitar)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo1k4sQmrn8) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/6 "2021-02-11T13:17:20Z")
Gadzooks! Even at that age, the man sure could fit a lot of music into 2 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/7 "2021-02-11T13:20:08Z")
I know, right? In 2006 he was 71, and still killin’ it. ---
**Author:** ![TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiberiusNeroClaudius)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/8 "2021-02-11T13:25:35Z")
A decade after falling out of favor with his bigamous marriage to his 13 year old cousin, Lewis began to recover in the country music charts. He had 17 top 10 singles on the Billboard charts between 1968 and 1977. He made his only appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in 1973 since he has always been ambivalent about Nashville. But I think Lewis has always been a bit of a loner in everything. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-lee-lewis-question/932644/9 "2021-02-11T15:39:38Z")
> [@19USMC69](#): > > Is he someone who the industry has just pushed aside because of his lifestyle? I think a big part of it was his drinking. During the 90s he was having shows cancelled for being too falling down drunk to even get to the stage. I was working at the Sands in Las Vegas then and witnessed one of his ‘episodes’. I have no idea if the ever sobered up but at that time people weren’t willing to book him.