18. Jerry Lee Lewis Married His 13-Year-Old Cousin
Jerry Lee Lewis began recording rock and roll in 1956, and became world-famous soon thereafter for There’s a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, and the insta-classic Great Balls of Fire. Then things went downhill when he married Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin. That was not considered extreme back then in Lewis’ native Louisiana, so he was not worried about a scandal. Lewis was warned not to take his child bride with him on his first European tour, but he ignored the warning.
Arriving in Britain in 1958, he introduced Myra to reporters as his wife, but claimed she was 15 – still shockingly young. When Myra’s true age was discovered, the backlash was fierce. The British press labeled Lewis a “baby snatcher” and “cradle robber”, urged a boycott of his concerts, and called for his deportation as a child molester. Tour dates were canceled, and Lewis and Myra were forced to flee back to the US, where the press was no kinder. Lewis had experienced a meteoric rise, and at the peak of his career, had rivaled Elvis. It crashed and burned spectacularly, and his personal appearance fees dropped from the then princely sum of $10,000 a night, to $250.