At the age of twenty-one, Jerry Lee Lewis “The Killer” arrived in Memphis, Tennessee in 1956. The Ferriday, LA native moved in with his cousin J.W. Brown’s family in the Coro Lake neighborhood in south Memphis. It was here where Lewis met Brown’s daughter, Myra Gale Brown, while on the way to national stardom. Despite enormous success at Sun Records with hits “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” his soon to be marriage to Myra (who was thirteen as well as being his second cousin), derailed his fame and national persona for more than a decade.  It is worthy to note that shortly before, Elvis had just been drafted into the U.S. Army, and the throne for the king of rock n roll appeared to be up for the taking. Due to his musical status and the fact he was launched from the same recording studio that Presley originally hailed from, it would have seemed inevitable for Lewis to be on the receiving end of the passing of the torch. It has without a doubt gone down as one of the biggest “what ifs” in music history.

       

   By resurrecting his career in the country market in 1968, Lewis would go on to achieve notoriety with hits “Another Place, Another Time,” “Middle Age Crazy,” and “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous.” He currently still lives in the Memphis area at his ranch in nearby, Nesbit, Mississippi.