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maximumhippo t1_iu6zkgr wrote

I didn't even know he was still alive.

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TheDeadlySquid t1_iu9820e wrote

Yeah, I thought he died like 5 years ago.

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LoveTechnique t1_iu9f3ei wrote

I thought he died like 30 years ago.

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Hanginon OP t1_iu9hmha wrote

He did an album in 2006 called "Last Man Standing" with a whose who of musical guest stars; Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, B. B. King, Buddy Giy, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Don Henley, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Rod Stewart, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Little Richard, and many more.

He was definitely the "last man standing" from the original 1950s Sam Phillips/Sun Records crowd.

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fritter4me t1_iu6zzwo wrote

Are there any R&R pioneers left from the 50s scene or are we fully into McCartney Jagger territory?

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Hanginon OP t1_iu712xi wrote

They're all gone, Jerry Lee was the last of them.

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Hanginon OP t1_iu759fm wrote

Bonus edit; Here he is in England in 1964. For perspective, the number one Billboard hit that year was the Beatles, "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

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fritter4me t1_iu74e07 wrote

He was the male version of Olivia de Havilland!

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Hanginon OP t1_iu9er1s wrote

He was the last of the original mid 1950s Sam Phillips/Sun Records crowd; Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.

No one back then would have predicted that Jery Lee would be the Last Man Standing.

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Scat1320USA t1_iu8q6xv wrote

What about Carl Perkins ?

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fritter4me t1_iu8rdhi wrote

25 years gone.

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Scat1320USA t1_iu8uzs5 wrote

Little Richard died May 2020 . I guess they are all gone . Some country guys are still around ? Jerry Reed ?

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rico_pallazo t1_iu92uq0 wrote

Jerry reed has been dead since 2008 if I remember correctly

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Scat1320USA t1_iu9fjoy wrote

Johnny Rivers , Kieth Richards , Mick Jagger , Townsend , Daltrey , Tommy James .. I guess these guys are the elder statesman of Rock and Roll now.😎🤔CSN , Grateful Dead , etc

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rico_pallazo t1_iu9gwnk wrote

Keith richards could survive a nuclear war just him ozzy osbourne and the cockroaches

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bharatchipkar6 t1_iu7cust wrote

I read somewhere he married a 14 year old cousin? Is that true or fake news?

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schmyle85 t1_iu7d5vx wrote

False she was 13

Edit 13 when he married her 12 when he first started “courting” her

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Mateos75 t1_iu9sq1n wrote

I think thats called "grooming" nowadays....

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Hanginon OP t1_iu7d6gq wrote

She was 13, lied about her age as being 15, and was his second cousin. It was in 1957, his 3rd marriage, and he was 22. His whole family and life story is way weirder than fiction.

Over the top Baton Rouge Pentecostal evangelist Jimmy Swaggart is also his cousin.

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Skippymabob t1_iu86u18 wrote

Not to be pedantic, but she was his Cousin Once Removed.

Second cousin = your parents cousins kids

Cousin once removed = your cousins kids (or your parents cousins, as the "removed" goes both ways)

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bharatchipkar6 t1_iu7de4b wrote

It’s quite telling when the most shocking thing about a person isn’t they had been married 3 times by age of 22. Not many ways to top that.

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SirGlenn t1_iu97qtb wrote

I had an under age girl lie to me about her age. I guess girls just want to have fun?

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theluckyfrog t1_iu9ha9p wrote

He totally knew her age, though; she was his relative.

It was the press she was lying to, and they figured it out approximately immediately.

He beat her, too.

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Hanginon OP t1_iu98uxx wrote

Used to see that a lot, used to but still do.

Ask any bouncer, or someone backstage after a rock & roll concert and you'll find it's pretty common. :/

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psuedonymously t1_iua3jhj wrote

If only it were possible to somehow check the ages of 13 year olds before letting them backstage. Or marrying them. Oh well.

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Hanginon OP t1_iua547g wrote

It seems to be a common "issue" with rock & roll/pop musicians. Elvis was 24 and 'dating' 14 year old Priscilla, 23 year old Iggy Pop was sleeping with 13 year old groupie Sable Star, Jimmy Page was 28 when traveling with and having -sex- a relationship with 14 year old Lori Maddox. That's just the shortest of lists of offenders and offenses, R. Kelly anyone?

But then of course like everything else, Jerry Lee is going to take it a bit farther than almost anyone else.

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Blundell1992 t1_iu748li wrote

I thought he was already dead.

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StumbleMyMirth t1_iu7a84n wrote

Is this true or not? Last night (maybe two days ago) local TV news broke in and said “breaking news Jerry Lee Lewis dead” then not 10 minutes later retracted and said he’s alive and well. Thought nothing of it again until this post

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Hanginon OP t1_iu7b3w8 wrote

Yes, it's real this time. This seems to be the real last curtain call.

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rustys_shackled_ford t1_iu98ylz wrote

TMZ jumped the gun. Got info he was dying and either miss represented that Info or just out right lied. Then 24 hours later he was past.

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EnvieOnCam t1_iu7dd8e wrote

No offense but what did he pioneer exactly? Everything he was doing was already done by Little Richard....

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optimalslacker t1_iu7ks7i wrote

He pioneered doing it while being white. An outside observer might call this something other than pioneering.

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EnvieOnCam t1_iu7l8lo wrote

Picking up something established is adopting it. I would say he and Elvis adopted and then popularized it for mainstream white audiences.

It's appropriate to credit them among the first ever "rockstars" for this reason. But I would never describe this as pioneering, all of the groundwork for the genre was already done.

That would be like saying Beastie Boys and Eminem were rap pioneers. Or Blondie because Debbie Harry had the first chart topping single with rap music in it. First to catch the attention of white audiences? Yes. Pioneers of the genre? Not even close. We can say they were incredibly talented people who were historically significant without implying they helped create it, which they did not.

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optimalslacker t1_iu7mkp2 wrote

This is a much more reasoned and detailed response than my snarky comment deserved, and I agree with everything you've said here.

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xRicharizard t1_iu9qha2 wrote

He was a far better pianist than Little Richard. It's not even close.

That said - whole lotta shakin going on is often credited as a progenitor of punk, so there you go.

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rustys_shackled_ford t1_iu98qpj wrote

Theres a reason everyone thought he was dead 20 years ago.... dudes into the woody Allen method of dating...

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Hanginon OP t1_iu999iv wrote

Married seven times, He married Myra Gale Brown, his second cousin, when he was 22, and she was his 3rd wife. 0_0

Then here he is in 2006, at 70 years old covering a Led Zeppelin song with Jimmy Page.

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rustys_shackled_ford t1_iu99i13 wrote

Yup. That's definitely some of the more innocent information adjacent to my comment. Seems to miss the one point that's actually related to my comment tho

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NosyargKcid t1_iu6ujn8 wrote

Did you miss the top post of the subreddit?

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Hanginon OP t1_iu6uyn9 wrote

Probably.

I saw Jerry Lee live when I was in High school in 1967, I'm impressed that he made it this long and never would have guessed at that time he would be "the last man standing".

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NosyargKcid t1_iu6xssc wrote

That’s awesome, my dude! I’ll be honest, I didn’t know he still was around as I thought he had passed a while back, but now that I think about it I’m pretty sure I got him mixed up with the comedian

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Hanginon OP t1_iu70ul5 wrote

He was really the last of 'the old guard', the Rockabillly/Rock & roll originators from Sun Studios in the early/mid 1950s; Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.

Jerry Lee did an album when he was 70 years old in in 2006 titled "Last Man Standing" with duets with a whose who of musical guest stars, Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, B. B. King, Buddy Giy, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Don Henley, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Rod Stewart, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Little Richard, and more.

He was definitely "The Last Man Standing."

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SunBlindFool t1_iu6x8h4 wrote

Yeah, it's safe to say when a famous musician dies you're not the first person to break the news to Reddit.

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Midwest_Rell t1_iu7wpan wrote

I thought it was a hoax at first and it was confirmed that he died Friday morning

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Scethrow t1_iu8ywx7 wrote

Ok well they said on the radio yesterday that this was a false story.

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ANaniMuth t1_iu93yjk wrote

Also, yesterday was today at one point. Today, being tomorrow yesterday, it is true.

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Hanginon OP t1_iu9dia4 wrote

That was from TMZ on Wednesday the 26th, reporting that he had died, Thursday they retracted the story and then Jerry Lee died on Friday.

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Mateos75 t1_iu9swb6 wrote

Didnt he also shoot his bass player?

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Hanginon OP t1_iu9xnp9 wrote

Yes, there was an 'accident' in 1976, Lewis was celebrating his 41st birthday (drinking) by doing a little indoor target practice. At that time, Lewis said, "I'm going to shoot that Coca-Cola bottle over there or my name ain't Jerry Lee Lewis." Lewis missed his target and shot his bass player, Norman Owens in the chest. Norman survived with a 'relatively' minor wound but sued Jerry Lee and was awarded $125,000. He was also noted for shooting holes in doors and shooting other items (indoors) just for fun. In this instance, shooting Norman, he was charged with discharging a firearm within city limits.

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fordprefect294 t1_iu7n2a4 wrote

Huh, I didn't realize he was still alive. RIP

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Jase1969 t1_iuaaqc1 wrote

Another old pedo has died. Yay.

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