Jerry Lee Lewis Marries His 13-Year-Old Cousin
American singer-songwriter, pianist, and musician Jerry Lee Lewis (born 1935) was one of the early pioneers of rock and roll and rockabilly. The latter was a blend of country, or “hillbilly music” as it was called then, and rhythm and blues, which led to “classic” rock and roll. Born and raised in Louisiana, he began recording in Memphis in 1956, and the following year he shot to global fame with his hit There’s a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On. He followed it soon after with his signature song, the insta-classic Great Balls of Fire, which made it to Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Songs.
By 1957, Jerry had already gone through two marriages, including a technically bigamous one to his second wife, 23 days before the divorce from his first wife had been finalized. He divorced his second wife to wed for a third time, after falling head over heels in love with Myra Gale Brown. She was his cousin – once removed, but still – and 13 years old. She actually still believed in Santa Claus when Jerry Lee Lewis married her.
In Louisiana back then, marrying a 13-year-old girl, or marrying one’s cousin, was not exactly commonplace, but neither was it too unusual. Where Jerry grew up, it simply was not that big of a deal, so he did not think his new wife’s age, or her blood relation to him, would prove scandalous. To the extent he was worried about potential scandal, it had more to with the timing of the wedding. Just as he’d done with his second marriage, Lewis’ third marriage had been performed before the divorce from his second wife had been finalized.
In short, Lewis did not realize that marrying his 13-year-old cousin might offend a lot of people. Folk from his label warned him against taking his child bride with him on his first European tour, but Lewis ignored them and took Myra with him to England. Huge mistake. Upon his arrival in May of 1958, Lewis introduced Myra to British reporters as his wife – although he did fib a bit, and claim that she was 15. That was still shockingly young, and when Myra was asked, she did not help by remarking that 15 was not too young to marry where she came from, where: “You can marry at 10, if you can find a husband“.
It was not long before the press on both sides of the Atlantic discovered Myra’s true age. The backlash was fierce and immediate. The British press, in particular, went after Jerry Lee Lewis hard, labeling him a “baby snatcher” and “cradle robber”, urging a boycott of his concerts, and calling for his deportation as a pervert and child molester. Tour dates were canceled, and Jerry and his child bride fled back to the US.
Things back home were not better. The scandal was waiting for Jerry when his plane landed in New York, and the US press was no gentler than the British had been. Jerry Lee Lewis had experienced a meteoric rise, and at the peak of his career, he was a legitimate rival to Elvis Pressley. Now, seemingly overnight, that promising career was snuffed out, and his personal appearance fees took a nosedive from the then princely sum of $10,000 a night, to $250. His career had a bit of a revival a decade later, when he reinvented himself as a country singer, performing for audiences less offended by child brides who also happened to be blood relatives. But his days as a rock and roll star were over and done with for good.