Jerry Lee Lewis

===Graceland arrest===
[[File:Jerry Lee Lewis 1976 mugshot.jpg|thumb|Mugshot in 1976]]

On September 29, 1976 (Lewis's 41st birthday), Lewis fired a [[.357 Magnum]] at a Coke bottle in his bedroom. The bullet ricocheted and accidentally hit bassist Butch Owens in the chest. Owens survived.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Young |first=Charles M. |date=October 19, 2006 |title=Jerry Lee Lewis: The Killer Reloaded |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jerry-lee-lewis-the-killer-reloaded-39491/ |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref>

On November 23, 1976, Lewis was arrested outside [[Elvis Presley]]'s [[Graceland]] home for allegedly intending to shoot him.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dan Epstein |first=Richard Bienstock |date=February 27, 2014 |title=30 Most Embarrassing Rock-Star Arrests |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/30-most-embarrassing-rock-star-arrests-22579/ |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> In Rick Bragg's 2014 authorized biography, ''Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story'', Lewis said that the reclusive Presley had been trying to reach him and finally did on November 23, imploring him to "come out to the house." Lewis replied that he would if he had time, but that he was busy trying to get his father, Elmo, out of jail in [[Tunica, Mississippi|Tunica]] for [[driving under the influence]]. Later that night, Lewis was at a [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] nightclub called the Vapors drinking champagne when he was given a gun. Lewis suddenly remembered that Elvis wanted to see him and, climbing aboard his new [[Lincoln Continental]] with the loaded pistol on the dash and a bottle of champagne under his arm, tore off for Graceland. Just before three o'clock in the morning, Lewis accidentally smashed into the famous Graceland gates.

Presley's astonished cousin Harold Lloyd was manning the gate and watched Lewis attempt to hurl the champagne bottle out the car window, not realizing the window was rolled up, smashing both. Bragg reports that Lewis denies ever intending to do Presley harm, that the two were friends, but "Elvis, watching on the [[closed-circuit television]], told guards to call the police. The [[Memphis police]] found the gun in the car and put Lewis, protesting, hollering, threatening them, away in handcuffs." Lewis said, "The cops asked Elvis, 'What do you want us to do? And Elvis told 'em, 'Lock him up.' That hurt my feelings. To be scared of me – knowin' me the way he did – was ridiculous." Lewis was charged with carrying a pistol and public drunkenness. Released on a $250 bond, his defiant mugshot was wired around the world. Presley himself died at Graceland nine months later.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tosches |first=Nick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALrR8lHmv44C&pg=PT86 |title=Country: The Twisted Roots Of Rock 'n' Roll |date=2009 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=978-0-7867-5098-6 |access-date=August 17, 2015 |archive-date=July 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713173511/https://books.google.com/books?id=ALrR8lHmv44C&pg=PT86 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 4, 2014 |title=The Killer at Peace: Jerry Lee Lewis' Golden Years |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-killer-at-peace-jerry-lee-lewis-golden-years-47174/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jerry Lee Lewis |url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/celebrity/music/jerry-lee-lewis |website=The Smoking Gun |date=June 12, 2014 |access-date=August 17, 2015 |archive-date=September 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915081623/http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/celebrity/music/jerry-lee-lewis |url-status=live }}</ref>