Photo by Chris Marden 

According to The Associated Press, Jerry Lee Lewis has died. He was 87 years old. A cause of death has yet to be reported, but Lewis was known to have fought several illnesses later in life, including acute bronchitis. His representative Zach Farnum said Lewis died at home in Memphis, Tenn.

The groundbreaking rock-and-roller known for his on and off-stage escapades – which earned the nickname “The Killer” – was famous for writing “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire.” It’s notable his death was erroneously reported earlier this week by TMZ.

Lewis was born in Ferriday, La., and before long, he was playing music with his cousins. He seemingly immediately knew who he was, having an affinity for blues and studied musicians at the local honky-tonks. While briefly enrolled at the Southwestern Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, the soon-to-be rock star was booted from school after sharing his raucous interpretations of hymns. In 1956 he found work as a session musician at Sun Records in Memphis, and it was there he found himself in a session with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins — creating the “Million Dollar Quartet.”

Though he didn’t find success immediately when he was able to showcase his rockabilly wild man soul on  The Steve Allen Show in 1957, Lewis’ star began to shine and brightly. The following year he shared the heat of his star by setting a piano on fire after he was told he would open for Chuck Berry rather than Berry opening for him.

“There was rockabilly. There was Elvis. But there was no pure rock ’n ’roll before Jerry Lee Lewis kicked in the door,” Lewis once said of himself.

That same year he traveled to London to perform, accompanied by his wife Myra Gale Brown, who was just 13 years old and his third cousin. Lewis, 22 at the time, told the press his wife was 15, but reporters discovered her true age, the news became international. Many of his concerts were canceled, and his songs appeared on the radio much less often. The occurrence was immortalized in the 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire! which starred Winona Ryder and Dennis Quaid.

Despite the controversy, Lewis continued to create and release music regularly, publishing.  Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, in 1964, and he appeared in the 1959 film High School Confidential. He continued to pursue country and gospel music through the ’60s and ’70s, leading up to his debut performance at the Grand Ole Opry in 1973. During the performance, he broke the venue’s two rules no non-country songs and no swearing.

He told the audience, “I am a rock and rollin’, country-and-western, rhythm and blues-singin’ motherfucker.”

It’s notable that in 1986, along with Elvis, Chuck Berry, and more, Lewis was part of the inaugural class of inductees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He also won a Grammy the following year as part of an interview album that was cited for best-spoken word recording and a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2005.

His greatest commercial musical success came in 2006 when he released Last Man Standing, which featured Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Little Richard, and others. The same year Last Man Standing was released, his single “Whole Lotta Shakin’” was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Lewis’ last album was Rock and Roll Time which was released in 2014.

Throughout his life, Lewis was publicly in legal trouble and controversy and was candid about his use of drugs and alcohol. In ’76, he accidentally shot bassist Butch Owens in the chest, who luckily survived, and that same year he was arrested for driving his car into the gates of Presley’s Graceland, waving a gun at a security guard and throwing a champagne bottle through a window. His life was also littered with grief, two of his former wives died young,  Jaren Gunn Lewis drowned in a swimming pool in 1982, and Shawn Michelle Stephens Lewis died of a drug overdose, both of which became the subject of an investigative report by Rolling Stone. His son Steve Allen Lewis, drowned in a swimming pool in 1962 at the age of 3, and his son Jerry Lee Jr. died in a traffic accident at 19 in 1973.

Despite his close proximity to death and criticisms for creating “the devil’s music,” Lewis was a Christian. “I was always worried whether I was going to heaven or hell,” he said in a 2015 interview with The Guardian. “I still am. I worry about it before I go to bed; it’s a very serious situation. I mean you worry, when you breathe your last breath, where are you going to go?”

Lewis had two daughters, Phoebe and Lori Leigh, and is survived by his wife Judith.