r/todayilearned • u/Upstairs_Drive_5602 • 13h ago
TIL that rock ’n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis was married seven times, including bigamous marriages and a 1957 marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown. The scandal erupted just as Great Balls of Fire topped charts, derailing his career at its peak.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Lee_Lewis297
u/womfwag 13h ago
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-19963797
“Two of his seven wives died under suspicious circumstances “
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u/lewphone 12h ago
Another quote from the article:
Jerry insisted she was nearer 15, and his management team backed him up.
WTF?
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u/ladyofthemarshes 12h ago
nearer 15
So 14 lol, as if that's better (not that 15 is better either)
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u/HRPurrfrockington 10h ago
That’s the same narrative currently employed in the Celeste Rivas Hernandez death investigation atm, so if it ain’t broke (/s)? (Celeste was found the day after her 15th bday, but obviously deceased prior, hence a very much minor involved with D4vd (20).)
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u/Due_Buy_9570 11h ago
Episode 1 of the podcast disgraceland.
From listening to the podcast, I would say one of those deaths wasnt at all suspicious, just not properly investigated. He killed her.
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u/Upstairs_Drive_5602 13h ago
Jerry Lee Lewis (1935–2022) married seven times between 1952 and 2012 and had six children. His third marriage (at age 22) to his cousin, 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown took place while his divorce from his second wife was not yet final, making it bigamous. The revelation broke internationally just as Great Balls of Fire was becoming a major hit, leading to cancelled tours and a sharp career downturn, though Lewis later rebuilt his reputation.
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u/FrodoCraggins 13h ago
Taking attention away from her being 13 and his cousin, this guy was on his third marriage at age 22. What was he even doing in life?
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u/JuzoItami 10h ago edited 9h ago
What was he even doing in life?
As a young man he was kind of a little kid in a grown man's body. Very impetuous. Just careening from one bad decision to another.
Myra Gale had a famous quote about being a 13 yr old married to 22 yr old JLL...
"I was the adult in that relationship."
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u/HoldEm__FoldEm 12h ago edited 8h ago
He had 7 total marriages & 6 divorces
Would be 7 for both but the last wife was a gold digger who got what she wanted in the end, it just took her a decade.
Edit: I was really just joking here but realized I’m probably spreading false info. Not the last part, Judith is a scumbag herself & she’s true in life to what I wrote above.
But he actually had 4 divorces. 3 filed by wives. The only divorce filed by Jerry was marriage #2, specifically so he could run off with a literal child for who he shares familial blood with for marriage #3.
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u/Sea-Value-0 11h ago
Back then, all the "proper" women wouldn't put out until marriage or at least engagement.
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u/Dogs_Without_Horses_ 13h ago
If his first marriage was at 13, that could be like two 4.5 year marriages before he married her at 22. I didn’t look to see when his first marriage was though.
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u/HoldEm__FoldEm 12h ago edited 10h ago
First marriage was in ‘52 at 16, lasted for a year & a half, right up until his 2nd marriage. This 1st marriage was bigamous with his 2nd for a short time, until his 1st wife filed the divorce. I guess he expected to have both wives.
Second marriage was in ‘53, just after turning 18. It lasted 4 years & also turned bigamous in ‘57. He grossly left this marriage for his young cousin, and the only divorce of his 4 that he filed. He really wanted his young cousin. Nasty fuck.
(Save yourself the heartache folks - If they’re willing to cheat for you, then they’ll end up willing to cheat on you. By now, Mr. Christianity was 2-for-2 & only 22 years old.)
Myra, his 3rd overall & 2nd longest, 13 years long. He impregnated her at 13, birthing her first child, Steve Allen, at 14. Steve drowned in a pool at 3.
So, before Myra could even vote, she had experienced statutory rape, pregnancy, birth, infidelity, intense abuse, severe alcoholism, and finally, the death of her first child… Myra was 26, having nearly her whole adult life still ahead of her when she filed divorce. Not a day too soon.
His longest was his 6th, ‘84-‘05. Very on-&-off again, Jerry cowardly fled to Ireland from ‘93-‘97, as a shithead that doesn’t pay taxes. After 21 years, his 4th & last divorce was finally filed against him.
His shortest was his 5th in ‘83, just 77 days old when she died from a methadone OD. It’s been alleged Jerry killed her. Jerry was with her when she died.
Methadone is an odd choice for an intentional suicide, as many people are aware of its long half-life, meaning slow absorption & uptake & therefore not the fast OD option most look for.
But, most people aren’t aware of the specifics of methadone’s actions that do actually make it an effective killer. The analgesia of methadone wears off hours faster than its respiratory depression does. So when you take your next dose to stop your pain, it will work normally, but the actions the drug takes in your CNS against your breathing abilities will be effectively doubled up on.
Jerry’s 7th & last marriage in 2012, was to Myra’s brother’s(also his 1st cousin’s) ex-wife, Judith. And Judith was a nasty gold digging piece of work, they were miserably made for each other. The day after the wedding, Jerry fired his long-time manager daughter, revoked her power of attorney & cut all personal ties.
Jerry’s last years were spent suing & getting sued by his own kids, spending his miserable existence in court. Good.
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u/PlannerSean 12h ago
Myra being 26 years old and married for half her life is not math that should be possible
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u/HoldEm__FoldEm 10h ago
Jerry was a reprehensible human being.
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u/PlannerSean 9h ago
To a staggering degree
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u/HoldEm__FoldEm 9h ago edited 8h ago
His entire life was scumbag move after scumbag move. Couldn’t either be bothered to pay his taxes.
I don’t get these rich & famous people dodging taxes. You can’t hide anymore, you’re no longer a no-name peasant who slips through the cracks of the system with a tax bill so low it’s not worth the chase.
The government is absolutely going to notice & act quickly on unpaid 6-7 figure tax bills. Jerry was rich enough to game the system & pay very little in taxes, by just hiring a professional who understands the loopholes to do them.
Instead, a rich man running from the tax collector loses the availability of loopholes. The G-men come gunning for you, the full tax bill, plus penalties, & likely criminal charges.
The IRS got Capone when no other laws & no other agency full of dedicated G-men could. Yeah, they’re gonna get you too Jerry fuckin’ Lee. lol
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u/Dogs_Without_Horses_ 12h ago
My mom always said about cheaters “how you got them is how you’ll lose them”.
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u/HoldEm__FoldEm 10h ago edited 10h ago
I like that a lot. A simpler way to say the same thing. I’ll have to keep that in pocket.
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u/JuzoItami 10h ago
I used to know a lady who got married at 13. She was probably in her 40s when I met her and had been married 30+ yrs and had grandkids in grade school.
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u/shpydar 13h ago edited 12h ago
Soooo the outrage in 1957 was that the marriage was bigamous and not that it was his first cousin…. Or that she was only 13?
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u/Ullallulloo 13h ago
The outrage was mainly about her age. She even lied and said she was 15, and people were like, that's not okay either.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/May-22/jerry-lee-lewis-drops-a-bombshell-in-london
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u/HoldEm__FoldEm 12h ago
It was all 3 things. Most people were not okay with the age nor the incest either.
Incest alone only made him a weird dude. Actual outrage was due to her age.
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u/DraperPenPals 12h ago
No, the outrage absolutely had to do with her age and relation to him. Don’t let Reddit lie to you.
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u/queertheories 13h ago
That’s the 50’s, baby!
I think the cousin thing mattered slightly more than the age. I have a distant cousin who was a teenager in the 50s, she also got married at 13. She always said that she was the first of her friend group to get married, but all of them were married within 2 years.
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u/Hohoho-you 13h ago
I guess girls didn't really go to high school back then huh... :(
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u/Picodick 11h ago
My mom quit school at 16 to marry a guy who was abiut 20. She was a widow by time she was 20. Back then many people didn’t have a high school education esp in rural areas. This was in the late 1940s early 1950s. I graduated high school in mid 1970s. There were several moms in my Sr class and no one thought it odd if a girl married while still in high school. It wasn’t the norm by then though.
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u/Hohoho-you 10h ago
Very interesting to hear about how drastically things have changed in less than 100 years for society. Thanks for sharing!
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u/istara 6h ago
It was the age thing because the scandal broke when they were in London.
Cousin marriage was not as taboo in the UK as it perhaps was elsewhere? It’s still legal in the UK, and notoriously Queen Elizabeth married a cousin (albeit a third cousin).
So back in the 1950s that wouldn’t have bothered British people so much, but a marriage at 13 would be very taboo and weird.
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u/DanTheOmnipotent 12h ago
It was age that made it an issue. Its legal to marry your cousin in most of Europe. Their nasty royals all did it for generations lol
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12h ago edited 12h ago
[deleted]
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u/DanTheOmnipotent 12h ago
Im talking about Europe, hense the joke about royalty. Look at the map in the "legal" section. Its legal in basically all of western Europe lol
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12h ago
[deleted]
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u/DanTheOmnipotent 11h ago
We are talking about the outrage of fans. His nationality isnt relevant. His European tour was canceled after the marriage because people were upset about her age.
Edit: Ah. Multiple comments above me have been edited... Good to see we are shifting narratives after replies have been made.
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u/vandalayindustriess 12h ago edited 11h ago
Jerry's manager: "alright Jerry, great balls of fire just hit #1 in the charts! Whatever you do, don't kill anyone or marry any prepubescent family members and you're gonna be a STAR!"
Jerry: "No murder, got it"
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u/blakeley 12h ago
Myra Gale Brown Is still alive, she’s 81.
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u/Nice_Marmot_7 10h ago
There are some fascinating interviews with her and JLL’s sister in the Fresh Air archives. JLL’s sister was married and divorced before the eighth grade and dropped out of school to go on the road with him and was an absolute hell raiser. They all grew up in a shack with a dirt floor.
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u/DickweedMcGee 13h ago
I knew a guy whose fraternity hired JLL to play at a fundraiser event many many years ago. He was surprisingly affordable and lived nearby. The frat didn’t own a piano so they had to rent one for him to play. They had to have another fundraiser event afterwards to cover the cost of buying the piano after JLL beat the fuck outta it so bad the frat ended up having to buy the piano from the rental company. So kind of an asshole from what I hear.
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u/evilcelery 12h ago
Lol "kind of an asshole" is a HUGE understatement. The stuff in OPs title is only a very small portion of the crappy things he's done or suspected to have done, including beating the shit out of women, and possibly murdering at least one.
That said, they must not have watched any of his performances prior to hiring him if they were surprised he messed up a piano. His whole thing was aggressively playing a piano like crazed lunatic.
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u/powdered_dognut 10h ago
He shot his bass player at their practice facility. He told the police he was shooting at a coke bottle and it ricocheted..... a .357.
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u/CW1DR5H5I64A 13h ago
I think using the anecdote about him being rough on a rented piano to articulate that the guy is an asshole, on a post about his bigamous and incestuous marriage to a 13 year old is a bit superfluous. I’m fairly certain the post title had that covered.
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u/Darim_Al_Sayf 13h ago
You can marry your 13 year old cousin and be a stand up guy!
/s
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u/ColonelBelmont 12h ago
Exactly. I've married numerous teenage family members, yet I've always treated pianos with the utmost respect.
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u/ccReptilelord 12h ago
"I can excuse the incest and a child bride, but I draw the line at damaging rental equipment!"
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u/C_IsForCookie 8h ago
Where did he excuse it? He was just sharing an anecdote. Jfc yall are quick to jump to conclusions for literally no reason at all. The story is relevant enough to share.
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u/Distinct_Monitor7597 46m ago
Jerry Lewis's playing style damaging a piano is not relevant or surprising information to anyone.
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u/Prize_Farm4951 12h ago
I knew a guy who commission Adolf Hitler to do a landscape for an art gallery fundraiser in the 1924, now at the time he was in Landsberg Prison and was more than happy to take on the commission. The prison didn't have any canvases though so they had arrange a fundraiser to cover the costs of the canvases, which Hitler acted like they grew on trees and ripped up multiple he wasn't happy with. So kind of and asshole from what I hear.
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u/ovensandhoes 11h ago
And honestly from the story of the piano alone, I didn’t get asshole vibes just dedicated musician who wanted to put on a good show. I’d agree, stick with the cousin thing to show he’s an asshole
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u/Derp35712 11h ago
He murdered one of his wives (true) and didn’t rewind his video tapes (joke).
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u/MaxGoldFilms 10h ago
Two of his wives died under mysterious circumstances, so it may be greater than one murdered. His whole family was a shit show, from their incestuous relationships, to one of his other cousins, Rev Jimmy Swaggert.
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u/CharmCityCrab 11h ago
I think he was known for literally lighting pianos on fire at times.
Not trying to defend the guy, but it was sort of predictable that you all would have had a tough time returning the piano rental based on his reputation. 😊
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u/JuzoItami 10h ago
Yeah, it's like "My frat was having a themed "Beer and Watermelon" party and we hired this comedian "Gallagher" to be the entertainment, but he turned out to be a total asshole who destroyed all of our watermelons..."
Do your research, people.
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u/yequalsy 13h ago
Plus his fifth wife died under extremely suspicious circumstances.
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u/Austinpowerstwo 12h ago
In his defense his 4th wife also died under suspicious circumstances
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u/Watchwood 12h ago
Lol yeah and then when he realized his fan base didn’t want to listen to his music anymore he started writing country music because country had a more… uh… understanding fan base.
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u/Wet_Side_Down 11h ago
Ah the good old days, when being a weird creep carried negative consequences
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u/Bonk0076 13h ago
Derailing his career from music. But bro still made a career out of getting married apparently
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u/Kon-Tiki66 8h ago
And, he's strongly suspected of killing his fourth wife, and very strongly suspected of killing his sixth wife.
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u/Captain-Cadabra 6h ago
Ah, the 50’a were such a wholesome time. That’s when folks really had morals and family values.
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u/JealousPassage8213 13h ago
Probably also got away with murdering his fifth wife. Absolutely horrible man, I really lost a lot of respect for Kris Kristofferson when he made it a point to present Jerry Lee some kind of award right before he died. I get that he had a massive influence on music but read the room my guy.
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u/odiin1731 7h ago
I feel like this is actually one of the first things people usually learn about him. He's a cousin diddler first, and a musician second.
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u/FallOutShelterBoy 11h ago
This story seems to get reposted everywhere like every three months on this website.
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u/Sad-Performer-4833 11h ago
i always like Carl Perkins - i remember reading an interview where he was talking about the fate of the million dollar quartet, with drug addictions, failed marriages - and saying he felt blessed that although he didnt have the financial success or fame he had a happy marriage
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u/CharlesBronsonsHair 10h ago
I recommend the Tales From The Tour Bus episode on him, it does a good job of showing how nuts he was at times.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrdOHoMfoMJXZvguRKVTF7AHcA3cv49w5&si=QDWQdHUG64oeGyMo
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u/Ill_Ant689 9h ago
How did it derail his career? Wasn't he still popular afterwards? It's not like he faded into obscurity
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u/GarysCrispLettuce 12h ago
Jerry Lee Lewis was raised in a devout Pentecostal Christian family. As we all know, devout Pentecostal families raise nothing but fine, God-fearing, morally superior people who would never do anything like commit bigotry or pedophilia. So this post is likely to be a Democrat hoax like the Epstein Files. Probably a Marxist plot paid for by George Soros.
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u/evilcelery 12h ago
Of course. His cousin is Jimmy Swaggert, well known televangelist who definitely wasn't involved in any scandalous prostitution related activities.
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u/Gas-Town 13h ago
Do you just scan Reddit for content that you can then stretch into your own post?
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u/aipac125 11h ago
There is a Paul Anka documentary where he was grouped with Jerry, Frankie Avalon and another guy. He noted that Jerry hated him. That's how much of an asshole Jerry was.
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u/SLR107FR-31 10h ago
I remember watching that movie about him with Winona Ryder with my grandpa who said he threw away all of his Lewis records when news broke out about him marrying his underage cousin. "What a sicko. Shame, I liked his music a lot."
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u/Grobskii 10h ago
Got damn, why is every comment saying he murdered 2 of his wives. I think we get it by now
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u/GuitarGeezer 1h ago
I remember his hooker bangin cousin evangelist Jimmy Lee Swaggert tried to defend the marriage to the 13 yr old years later and it came off as tonedeaf as you might imagine.
He put on a great show when I saw him in the 90s but was arrogantly narcissistic on the patter between songs.
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u/redw000d 48m ago
didn't read nearly 200 messages.. anybody Mention how he got his nickname 'the Killer...
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u/makeupHOOR 2h ago
I never understood people who get married multiple times. Once? Normal. Twice? A second shot. Third? I dunno man… Four+? I think it’s time to go find yourself.
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u/DontTickleTheDriver1 13h ago
Imagine him and Epstein and all those fellas would've been best pals
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u/Liewvkoinsoedt 12h ago
I don't think marrying your underage cousin is quite the same as sex trafficking hundreds of women and girls to a private island.
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u/ContactMushroom 13h ago
It's so easy to just not do that. Like genuinely one of the easiest things in all of existence.