Jerry Lee Lewis

USA, 1952–2022

American singer and pianist (1935-2022), billed as the Killer. 'Great Balls of Fire' and 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' put a percussive, glissando-heavy piano style at the centre of rock and roll.

MusicRoots documents 7 artists who influenced Jerry Lee Lewis and 3 artists Jerry Lee Lewis influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Jerry Lee Lewis?

• Al Jolson — Lewis sang Al Jolson songs picked up from his parents' records — the vaudeville showman's brashness in his own performing.
• Jimmie Rodgers — The Singing Brakeman's songs were part of the young Lewis's repertoire — the country-blues yodel in his roots.
• Hank Williams — Lewis first heard Hank Williams on the Louisiana Hayride in 1948 — the country heart beneath his rock'n'roll.
• Albert Ammons — Lewis felt an affinity for the percussive boogie-woogie blues piano — the pumping left hand behind 'Whole Lotta Shakin''.
• Ray Charles — Ray Charles was among the African-American R&B artists whose sound the young Lewis absorbed.
• Muddy Waters — Muddy Waters's electric blues was among the Black R&B sounds that fed Lewis's rock'n'roll.
• B.B. King — Among the R&B musicians Lewis was listening to early, with Ray Charles and Muddy Waters.

Which artists did Jerry Lee Lewis influence?

• Leon Russell — The teenage Russell toured for two months backing Jerry Lee Lewis — the pumping rock'n'roll piano absorbed straight from the source.
• Elton John — 'I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it' — Lewis's pumping-piano rock'n'roll was the other half of young Elton's musical awakening.
• Scorpions — Part of the American rock'n'roll that was Schenker's first musical spark, with Elvis.