Great Balls of Fire’s infamous singer Jerry Lee Lewis passed away at the age of 87, according to his agent. He was one of the last living representatives of the heyday of rock ‘n’ roll, yet his life was also marked by scandal and violence.

When he married his cousin Myra Gale Brown at the age of 22, his career was briefly put on hold. “Perhaps the last true, magnificent icon of the origin of rock’n’roll,” according to Lewis’ agency, was Lewis.

“He was there at the beginning, with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and the rest, and watched them fade away one by one until it was him alone to bear witness, and sing, of the birth of rock’n’roll,” said Lewis’ publicist Zach Farnum in a statement.

According to his publicist, Lewis passed away at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, with his seventh wife, Judith, by his side.

Days before to the news of his death, the rumour website TMZ reported on a phoney death announcement.

Lewis received the most accolades, followed by Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, who tweeted: “R.I.P. JLL the KILLER – Such a dude.

“God bless Jerry lee Lewis, peace and love to all his family,” said Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

Lewis, who was born in 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana, eventually relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, and found employment there as a studio musician for Sun Studios.

At the age of 14, he had his stage debut. Throughout his youth, he snuck into a Ferriday nightclub to listen to the best blues musicians of the time, where he first discovered his passion of boogie-woogie and the blues.  Lewis’ cousin Myra Gale Brown, who was also the bass player’s daughter at the time, wed the singer in 1957 when she was just 13 years old. Lewis was imprisoned in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1976 after being discovered waving a gun and asking to be seen.

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