I find living is nice and calm this way. First, Myra Gale Brown had been just 13 years old when they got married on Dec. 12, 1957. She was controversial in the news due to her marriage to Jerry Lewis. In 1981, Lewis entered a Memphis hospital in enfeebled shape the result of years of steady consumption of liquor and drugs. Go to college, get an education, then figure it out. But it was a different world, things have changed so drastically. 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Myra Gale Brown, also known today as Myra Lewis William, is an American author. It was about being with somebody you couldnt keep: I just put in my last dime/Heard you whisper wed meet again/Another place, another time. He sang it. After further digging, the newspapers revealed that Myra Gale Brown was actually 13, his cousin, and that for the second time, Lewis had failed to get divorced before remarrying. It was really the first scandal of rock n roll, Williams told Georgias Gwinnett Daily Post in 2016. Brown is a basketball player, and she used to be married to the brother of Lewis's third wife, Myra Gale Brown. Thirteen year old Myra Gale Brown sitting on Jerry Lee Lewis lap. Instead, as he stood over that small grave, he knew that his drive was the only thing that could save him.. Myra knew what he was doing, and she told him she would leave him. He said that Elvis called him the next day and invited him to Graceland. For that distinction as well as for the startling depth and display of his talent some rock & roll chroniclers regarded him as perhaps the exemplary performer of his era: more unrepressed than Elvis Presley, more forcible than Chuck Berry, more insolent than Little Richard. That Doesnt Justify What He Did Offstage, Charlie Watts Is a Jazz Drummer: The Lost Rolling Stone Interview. Some have thought Iago felt slighted. (Lewis denied any involvement in Shawns death.). A lot of ink has been spilled about his close blood relationship with Myra, and the fact that she was only 13 and still believed in Santa Claus when the pair were married. On December 12, 1958, Myra Brown, 13, married Jerry Lee Lewis, 22, in Hernando, Mississippi (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) What allegedly fueled the fire was the press's discovery, after Lewis returned to Memphis, that Brown was the daughter of Lewis' cousin and bass player, JW Brown. The press made me out to be a seductive Lolita, which was as far from the truth as it gets. The press found out after Brown accidentally told a reporter that she was Lewis's wife. His managers had warned him about the British press and their delight in tearing down American superstars, but Lewis hadnt listened. Williams also covered their marriage in the 1982 book Great Balls of Fire, which was adapted into a 1989 film starring Dennis Quaid as Lewis and Winona Ryder as Williams. In 2016 she published her memoir, The Spark That Survived. Williams described to Light the moment when the world learned of their scandalous marriage. She ran outside, calling his name. Tweets. Katie Serena is a New York City-based writer and a staff writer at All That's Interesting. [13], Shortly after her divorce, Brown married Pete Malito,[14] the detective she had hired to trail Lewis and document his infidelities,[15] and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Little did they know what it was going to turn into.. They told him he had a 50 percent chance of survival. She also released a memoir, The Spark That Survived, in 2016. @rush it does seem incredible, but half of the states in the US still have no minimum age for marriage in 2022. Myra Gale Lewis Williams (ne Brown; born July 11, 1944) is an American author, best known for her controversial marriage at the age of 13 to rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis, who was her first cousin once removed and was 22 at the time. She has a career in real estate in Georgia since 1980 (under the name Myra Williams or Myra Lewis Williams). When I visited her, Myra told the L.A. Times this year, I would still see him, too. Phoebe quit working for him and I havent seen him since. Maybe during what Miles called the wilderness years, Lewis played with this much ferocity on God knows how many nights. The press also learned that Myra was Jerry Lees cousin. Jerry Lee Lewis passed away Friday at age 87, and along with the outpouring of tributes to his talents came reminders of his notorious marriage to his 13-year-old cousin in 1957. All to no avail. Fellow singer, Kris Kristofferson, who was also in the UK at the time,remembered the way Lewis was treated. He died on Nov. 13, 1973. @cat well that's gross, but at this point, it's not all that surprising. After my divorce, she told the L.A. Times in 1989, I had to go to a psychiatrist because I thought Ive got to have lost it. American actor Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis and Winona Ryder as his underage wife Myra Gale Brown in the film 'Great Balls of Fire!', a biopic of. On that day in June, Jaren was sunbathing at a friends house. He made himself a sandwich and then found her in the bedroom, and, she claimed, thumped her on the head. When we went back home, the whole country was Shame on you, bad boy. The other thing we had back then was a hypocritical society. You cant go through a life like that and come out and be OK. Apparently it wasn't uncommon at the time. After thirteen years of marriage, they were divorced in 1970, when Myra charged that she has been subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable; Jerry Lee later said that it was all my faultshe caught me cheating. When we met, she described their relationship as a successful divorce, though more recently it seems theyve been clashing over his current, seventh wife. The singer lived out rock's audacity in extreme fashion, making him one of the defining performers of his era. The day before that drive down Elvis Presley Boulevard, Lewis had rolled his Rolls-Royce with his fourth wife, Jaren Pate, in the car. They called Lewis a cradle robber.. Williams said she considered herself an adult at the time of her marriage to the rock star, and people around the couple said she was "more mature than Jerry." It was crude and rude and ridiculous what it was doing to the teenagers. Myra Lewis Williams, also known as Myra Gale Brown, was the third wife of late rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis and more infamously his 13-year-old cousin at the time they got. I plumb married the girl, didnt I? he told one reporter. I didnt question God., He was supposed to travel to England in a few days his first trip there since the country had shamed him. Reporters discovered that the young girl traveling with him, Myra Gale Brown, was his 13-year-old bride and his cousin and that Mr. Lewis had still been married to his second wife when he . But they didnt, and I didnt, and the rest is history, I guess. [20] Now known as Myra Lewis Williams, she resides in Duluth, Georgia with her husband; they own a real estate company. He was an utterly convincing and affecting barroom singer, like Merle Haggard, and like Haggard, he wielded singular tone and timing. Brown's age and blood relationship to Lewis caused an uproar on his first tour of England and was later criticized . "The only problem was that nobody told me anything," Williams said, according to Light in Medium. [4] Lewis asserted that Brown was 15 years old and was his wife of two months. She also described herself as the adult in the relationship with Lewis. Elvis never talked about the incident. He wanted to do harm. Back at home, he told Myra, If you ever leave me, Ill throw acid in your face, and then kissed her. However Buddy Holly's legacy has been marred due to legal disputes among his heirs. Myra Lewis harbors little bitterness today, even though Lewis has attacked her character in recent interviews. When the woman who owned the house could no longer see her, she sent her son to look for her. Im right here! At one time, it seemed like I was burying somebody every week.. His second marriage in September 1953 had caused quite a stir when people realized it had taken place 23 days before his first divorce was final. The friend wanted to show Jerry Lee a .357 magnum. My little brother was born because I begged my parents for a baby at ten years old. Judith was married to Brown's brother, Rusty, who was just a small child when Brown and Lewis tied the knot. Jerry Lee Lewis married his second cousin Myra Gale Brown when she was just 13. The revelation resulted in the abrupt cancellation of Lewis tour; he was blacklisted by radio and his earnings dropped overnight. Jack Good, who had produced the TV show Shindig!, wanted to make a rock opera of Shakespeares Othello, and he had only one person in mind to play Iago: Jerry Lee Lewis. Myra Lewis Williams, as she's now known, made those comments to journalist Alan Light when he met up with her and Lewis for a 2010 story for Rolling Stone. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Because we have a daughter, Jerry and I remained in contact for many years, she wrote. What I wanted was a baby in my arms, a home, a husband, a kitchen to cook in, a yard to raise roses. That did.. We were just kids in love at the time. The book includes lots of details about Jerry's early career that a music historian might appreciate. According to Rick Bragg in Jerry Lee: His Own Story, Owens handed it over to the singer and said, Careful. Life and career. The daughter of J.W. Brown played electric bass, and Lewis played piano and sang. They had two children, Steve Allen Lewis (19591962), who drowned at age three, and daughter Phoebe Allen Lewis (b. Her Instagram account has been dormant since early 2016. "Loganville couple celebrates 75 years of marriage, music and memories", "JERRY LEE LEWIS, ROCK, STOCK AND BARREL", "The Strange and Mysterious Death of Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis", "Jerry Lee Lewis's short-lived music success", "Jerry Lee Lewis Online Wild One's Clubhouse: The Largest Jerry Lee Lewis Homepage on the Internet! Its got a hair trigger. Bragg related what happened next: It appears to be that way, Butch, Jerry Lee said, too drunk to be overly concerned. Find Myra Brown stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Brown vzal prci s Memphis Gas, Light and Water, kde pracoval jako lineman. They called it the devils music. In 1956, Lewis moved in with J.W. She was also Jerry Lee's second cousin, as well as the daughter of Jay 'JW' Brown, the bass player in his band. The England tour was supposed to establish a British fan base that would, hopefully, lead to a worldwide audience. Arriving for a tour of England, a journalist asked her who she was when the couple arrived to London's Heathrow Airport. Due to her marriage with Jerry Lewis, she was controversial in the media. Jerry Lee Lewis and his 13-year-old wife, Myra, get set for a motorcycle ride on June 14, 1958. In my little mind, I couldnt believe that they could not see that I was a grown woman. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Travis Scott is sought by New York Police after alleged assault and criminal mischief, Travis Barkers finger injury delays Blink-182 tour: One of those freak accidents, The timeless creativity of De La Soul, now (finally) available for the streaming generation, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Yet more rain expected to hit California in March. The fallout began immediately after Lewis told the reporters that his wife was 15. Lewis was charged with a misdemeanor: firing a gun within city limits. Jerry Lee & Myra Lewis Interview ( 1958 ) robin haugsnes 5.68K subscribers Subscribe 793 Share 365K views 14 years ago Jerry telling about his tour in London, where everything went pretty bad,. Or: Iago was simply a sociopath. "It was really the first scandal of rock 'n' roll," Brown said in an interview with Georgias Gwinnett Daily Post in 2016. Trending Rusty Brown is the brother of Jerry's third wife Myra - making the union even more. Myra Lewis Williams At Lees McRae WJHL 58K views 5 years ago Hank Williams. [5] This caused an uproar and after a few dates the tour was cancelled. Light wrote that the duo were "joking and giggling, poking and swatting each other, Jerry Lee even sneaking a kiss at one point". Though Lewis has been married five other times, it seems that Myra remained close to his heart. Lewis lived out rock & rolls sexual and impulsive audacity in extreme fashion. This week, Jerry Lee will release both Rock & Roll Time, a studio album of duets, and a memoir, Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, written with Rick Bragg. When fans learned of this while Lewis was on tour overseas in 1958, it exploded into a . (Couples married young in his Louisiana hometown of Ferriday, and he wed for the first time when he was 16 and had seven wives over the course of his life.). In the early 1960s, he went to Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury. His third marriage was to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown, which lasted from 1958 to 1970. [1] In 1949, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when J.W. She was also Jerry's cousin. I was serious-minded, I was like, We gotta take care of this and do this, and he was like, Wheres the piano? Thats what he is, thats what hes about. [14], Brown hired writer Murray Silver to co-write a book that was meant to be her autobiography, but after a publisher's editing it became Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis. The British press reacted with outrage. It was the most notorious rock & roll romance of all time, the Big Bang of pop music scandal. I hope my story helps you handle your own ups and downs. Into a brand, even: the Killer. We kept thinking every year, every six months, that it was going to go away, theyre going to stop talking about it, and it just didnt happen. Lewis passed away Friday at age 87, and along with the outpouring of tributes to his talents came reminders of his notorious marriage to his 13-year-old cousin in 1957. For this sort of act, existentialists would have named Jerry Lee Lewis a rebel, though his admirers simply called him the Killer. Meanwhile, Williams wrote in an Instagram post in 2015 that she had keep in contact with Lewis over the years due to their shared daughter, Phoebe. His final marriage was to Judith Lewis (ne Brown, the former wife of the brother of Myra Gale Brown), on March 9, 2012. Fifteen, Lewis answered, with a cocky grin. Myra Gale Brown. My generation was taught to hide under our desk when the bomb came, so you always had in the back of your mind that any minute, any day, life could come to an end, Brown recalled in an interview. Coming off of Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On and Great Balls of Fire, he embarked on a tour of England that was supposed to establish his fame worldwide. Myra Gale Brown's Tweets. On December 12, 1957, Lewis wed a woman named Myra Gale Brown (pictured above), who was also his cousin. "What was happening back then, rock 'n' roll was coming on very, very strong. 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