Jerry Lee Lewis

==Early life==
Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29, 1935, to Elmo Kidd Lewis Sr. and Mary "Mamie" Herron Lewis in [[Ferriday, Louisiana]]. He grew up in an impoverished farming family in Eastern Louisiana. In his youth, he began playing the piano with two of his cousins, [[Mickey Gilley]] (later a popular country music singer) and [[Jimmy Swaggart]] (later a popular televangelist). His parents [[Mortgage loan|mortgaged]] their farm to buy him a piano. Lewis was influenced by a piano-playing older cousin, [[Carl McVoy]] (who later recorded with [[Bill Black]]'s Combo), the radio, and the sounds from Haney's Big House, a black [[juke joint]] across the tracks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 16, 2004 |title=Natchez Under The Hill Saloon – Natchez Mississippi |url=http://www.underthehillsaloon.com/custom/webpage.cfm?content=newsletter&id=50 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040716210854/http://www.underthehillsaloon.com/custom/webpage.cfm?content=newsletter&id=50 |archive-date=July 16, 2004 |access-date=July 11, 2015 |publisher=Underthehillsaloon.com}}</ref> On November 19, 1949, Lewis made his first public performance of his career, playing with a [[country and western]] band at a car dealership in Ferriday. The hit of his set was his performance of [[R&B]] artist [[Stick McGhee]]'s "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Palmer |first=Robert |date=December 13, 1979 |title=The Devil and Jerry Lee Lewis |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-devil-and-jerry-lee-lewis-2-179111/}}</ref> On the live album ''By Request, More of the Greatest Live Show on Earth'', Lewis is heard naming [[Moon Mullican]] as an artist who inspired him.<ref name="allmusic.com">{{Cite web |title=Moon Mullican {{!}} Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/moon-mullican-mn0000594267/biography |access-date=March 21, 2021 |website=AllMusic |archive-date=August 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804185528/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/moon-mullican-mn0000594267/biography |url-status=live }}</ref>

His mother enrolled him at the [[Southwestern Assemblies of God University|Southwest Bible Institute]] in [[Waxahachie, Texas]], so that he could sing evangelical songs exclusively. When Lewis daringly played a [[boogie-woogie]] rendition of "My God Is Real" at a church assembly, it ended his association with the school the same night. Pearry Green, then president of the student body, related how during a talent show Lewis played some "worldly" music. The next morning, the [[Dean (education)|dean]] of the school called Lewis and Green into his office to expel them. After that incident, he went home and started playing at clubs in and around Ferriday and [[Natchez, Mississippi]], becoming part of the burgeoning new [[rock and roll]] sound and cutting his first demo recording in 1952 for [[Cosimo Matassa]] in New Orleans.<ref name=jms>{{Cite web |last=Halsey |first=Jay |year=2021 |title=The Killer Rocks J&M |url=http://cosimocode.com/killer.html |website=The Cosimo Code |access-date=October 29, 2022 |archive-date=September 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902142443/http://cosimocode.com/killer.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Tomko|first=Gene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZKzDwAAQBAJ|title=Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0807169322|location=Baton Rouge|pages=160|access-date=December 1, 2021|archive-date=July 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713173501/https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZKzDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Around 1955, he traveled to [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], where he played in clubs and attempted to build interest, but was turned down by the [[Grand Ole Opry]], as he was already at the [[Louisiana Hayride]] country stage and radio show in [[Shreveport]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 27, 2012 |title=Jerry Lee Lewis {{!}} Sun Record Company |url=https://www.sunrecords.com/artists/jerry-lee-lewis |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204174946/https://www.sunrecords.com/artists/jerry-lee-lewis |url-status=dead }}</ref>