Myra took Steven to church for the first time. But it didnt delve deep enough into exploring Lewis indomitable character. Phoebe worked for him and when I visited her I would still see him, too. Rolling Stone named him to its list of Immortals (later the 100 Greatest Artists) in 2005. Lewis married once more to Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate the following year. I accepted it. Brown, now 78, found some success as a writer, publishing the book Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis, in 1982. Remember, gossip is not gospel, Williams wrote on Instagram in 2015. Owens survived and successfully sued Jerry Lee for $50,000. But friends of Jerry Lee would say that the marriage had existed mostly on paper.. She is most popular for her union with rock 'n' move performer Jerry Lee Lewis who is her subsequent cousin. Tweets & replies. So when a reporter asked me, Who are you?, I was the one who let the big ol cat out of the bag. 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. His estate has generated millions over the years. Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Before Kurt and Courtney, Sid and Nancy, or John and Yoko, there was Jerry Lee Lewis and his thirteen-year-old bride, Myra Gale Brown. Inside The Short And Tumultuous Life Of Gia Carangi, "The World's First Supermodel", 44 Grim Photos That Show The Brutal Reality Of Mid-Century America's Polio Epidemics, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Or: Iago was simply a sociopath. Alamy Stock Photo One of the most shocking scandals involving cradle-snatching rock stars was the marriage of. Jack Good had plans to take it Broadway, but Lewis wouldnt go with it. At the time, she hadnt realized that there was anything wrong with her relationship with Lewis. In May 1958 at the peak of a career some thought could overtake Presleys he left for a 37-date tour of the U.K. By the late 1960s, hed been living a punishing life on the road, drinking and taking pills steadily, going without sleep as he did it all. But because he is never fully explained, Iago is a void a void incarnate. Due to her marriage with Jerry Lewis, she was controversial in the media. She was married to her cousin, rock star Jerry Lee Lewis. Others think he suspected Othello of having slept with his own wife. Myra Gale Brown (known today as Myra Lewis William) is an American author. "And it really seemed unfair to me, because he had no idea he was doing anything wrong. "It was really the first scandal of rock 'n' roll," Brown said in an interview with Georgias Gwinnett Daily Post in 2016. Thats exactly what it was. All of Jerrys managers told him, Do not take Myra to England, because the British press was known to rip Americans apartthats where all the tabloid journalism started. To some degree, Lewis and those who venerated him were able to spin his worst qualities into a kind of dark legend. In blistering heat, with nine dogs scurrying underfoot, I found that Myra was a bright, funny woman, with a very clear perspective on her notorious past, and she gave new insight into this pivotal moment in rock & roll history. Elvis never talked about the incident. Brown, and that the 22-year-old singer was still technically married to his previous wife, Jane Mitcham. J.W. Lewis' passing was announced on. [15][19][11], She is shown being interviewed in the Ethan Coen directed 2022 documentary film Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind.[21]. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . It was about being with somebody you couldnt keep: I just put in my last dime/Heard you whisper wed meet again/Another place, another time. He sang it. My little brother was born because I begged my parents for a baby at ten years old.. It was the most notorious rock & roll romance of all time, the Big Bang of pop music scandal. 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. After the controversy in the UK, Lewis could no longer find success performing rock 'n' roll music, and found he had to pivot into country music instead. The peptic ulcer was a sign of a bigger problem, a recurring one. Myra Gale Brown was the daughter of J.W. My 1988 book and the resulting movie, Great Balls of Fire, were just the beginning. She was also Jerry Lee's second cousin, as well as the daughter of Jay 'JW' Brown, the bass player in his band. The other chance that came his way was a thoroughly unlikely one. Around the same time, Elvis Presley was involved with Priscilla Beaulieu, who was 14 when she met him. We took a lot of hits for the music itself. He wanted to do harm. All to no avail. The 'Great BallsOf Fire' singer started performing in the early 1950s, in his late teens. Lewis had called Presley a puppet of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. He roared, he snarled, he pounded; he and the band were a cacophony, as he tore through such songs as Money, Great Balls of Fire, Long Tall Sally, Whole Lotta Shakin Going On and Good Golly, Miss Molly., That last song he sang like a madman. Things grew much worse when new information came back from the States: Myra was in fact 13, not 15. Great Balls of Fire is the toon of rock movies, with Jerry Lee Lewis reduced on screen to Roger Rabbit, Times music critic Robert Hilburn wrote at the time. [4] Lewis asserted that Brown was 15 years old and was his wife of two months. And, OK, if you say to me now, Theres a 13-year-old girl over here who wants to get married, I would say God, please do not do that, little girl. It was adapted into the 1989 film Great Balls of Fire!, starring Dennis Quaid as Lewis and Winona Ryder as Brown. Lewis, who died Friday at age 87, weathered professional exile in 1958 after a reporter covering his arrival in London inquired about the young girl in his entourage who ultimately introduced herself as Jerrys wife.. [20] Now known as Myra Lewis Williams, she resides in Duluth, Georgia with her husband; they own a real estate company. I think this book will warm your heart, tickle your funny bone, and touch your soul. [14] The producers did not want Brown or Lewis involved with the film, but she visited the Memphis set anyway. It was different, it was the new kid on the block and the new kid arrived in a storm. Coming off of Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On and Great Balls of Fire, he embarked on a tour of England that was supposed to establish his fame worldwide. 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. On June 8, 1982, the marriage to Jaren Pate came to an end. Im still the 13-year-old child bride. This week, Jerry Lee will release both Rock & Roll Time, a studio album of duets, and a memoir, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, written with Rick Bragg. She has been in news due to the death of her husband, on October 28, 2022. Life and career. According to Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, by author Joe Bonomo, he later said, I was a 21-year-old kid, and I didnt know whether I was comin or goin. In 1958, when Elvis Presley was drafted into the military, Lewis was perfectly poised to become rocks biggest star. Brown took a job with Memphis Gas, Light and Water, where he worked as a lineman. It didnt matter to me. You cant go through a life like that and come out and be OK. Lewis had told everyone that Brown was his wife but failed to mention her actual age, instead, telling them she was 15. I dont think I ever resented it for me, though, I always resented it for what they did to Jerry. When J.W. Fellow singer, Kris Kristofferson, who was also in the UK at the time,remembered the way Lewis was treated. And, Myra said later, she herself felt ready for marriage. That was a fairly romantic conception, but it raised another, equally troubling question: Did Lewis fans and chroniclers really care much about whether he married a 13-year-old, whether he brutalized his wives, or, in fact, whether he played a part in Shawn Stephens death? It was Do as I say, not as I doand if you get caught, we dont even know you. Also, a lot of people took good notes when it happened. In September 1976, Lewis was celebrating his 41st birthday at his home when Butch Owens, his bass player, showed up with a friend. [1] In 1949, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when J.W. I'm only 13. Or did that possibility somehow further his antihero standing? Cause you appear to be sittin in the wrong spot, said Jerry Lee.. On Easter Sunday, 1962, Jerry Lee was in Minnesota for a show. 58 Followers. Lewis later said the pistol had simply slipped from the dashboard to the floorboard. If anybody had told me anything, I could have prevented this thing. 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. After just a few shows, Lewis' tour was cancelled, with the British press calling him a 'cradle robber' and a 'baby snatcher'. However, upon landing in the country with his child-bride, it became clear that the Brits were not on board with Jerry Lee Lewis. But Lewis had a storied private life, and his career took a nosedive in the late 1950s, when he married Myra Gale Brown. Oct. 28, 2022 3:46 PM PT Myra Lewis Williams, also known as Myra Gale Brown, was the third wife of late rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis and more infamously his 13-year-old cousin. His son Jerry Lee Lewis Jr., from an earlier marriage, wanted to drum in his fathers band and to live like his father, but he didnt have the mental constitution for the drug use. (Photo by Keith Hamshere . Priscilla Presley Disputes Invalid Amendment to Lisa Maries Trust He wanted to go back to being Jerry Lee Lewis. Although there was some controversy surrounding their involvement because Lewis and Mitchum's divorce was not yet finalised, it was mostly scrutinised given Brown's young age. A good person. However, she indicated that his 2012 marriage to the ex-wife of her brother had put a strain on their relationship. Steve tragically drowned at age 3, and Phoebe grew up to become her father's manager. In Great Balls of Fire, Myra told of a night toward the end when Jerry came home and woke her, demanding sex. The "Great Balls of Fire" rocker's career took a hit following his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, his first cousin once removed and the daughter of Lewis' bassist. Change isnt something that everyone always likesPlay some Frank Sinatra, whats wrong with Sing Along with Mitch? It was a time and a place that wont come around again. Thats what this book basically is, this is what happened, this is how I handled it and here I am today, she said. She later pursued a career in music and worked on the movie Benji: Off the Leash! I have the devil in me! he shouted. I just went on with my life as usual.. (1989). First, Myra Gale Brown had been just 13 years old when they got married on Dec. 12, 1957. And Jerry gave it to themwell, I did, I opened my mouth. @rush it does seem incredible, but half of the states in the US still have no minimum age for marriage in 2022. Little did they know what it was going to turn into.. It bumped De Gaulle off the front page of the newspaper. "I don't think I ever resented it for me, though, I always resented it for what they did to Jerry," Williams said of the marriage, per Medium. He told his guards to call the police. He said that Elvis called him the next day and invited him to Graceland. [10][11] Brown filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery and abuse,[5] stating that she had been "subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable. Williams described to Light the moment when the world learned of their scandalous marriage. Everything just came together and a major explosion happened.. Brown and Lewis had two children together: Steve Allen Lewis and Phoebe Allen Lewis. Lewis had been struggling with his health, and Judith had agreed to care for him at the request of Rusty. Myra Gale Brown 20:34, 28 OCT 2022. By the time he was 21, he had begun recording with the likes of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. {RP18+MovieBasedGreat Balls Of Fire} Joined February 2012. However Buddy Holly's legacy has been marred due to legal disputes among his heirs. "he press made me out to be a seductive Lolita, which was as far from the truth as it gets. Elvis had been drafted into the military, and Lewis was poised to take his place as rocks biggest name. She was also Jerry's cousin. 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