Ruth Laney can be reached at ruthlaney@cox.net. Born in Ferriday in 1935 and ’36 during the Great Depression, the cousins grew up poor, but all exhibited musical talent at an early age.

Country western star Mickey Gilley was born on March 9, 1936 in Natchez, Mississippi, the cousin of future rockabilly legend Jerry Lee Lewis and disgraced televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, and raised in Ferriday, Louisiana.In their childhood, all three would play the piano when they got together and sing gospel and boogie-woogie songs. Just wondering if any of the three; recall any relatives with the last name Wisenor. A lot has been written, but the most compelling story to me is the fact that they are cousins who grew up very close. Upon his arrival in May of 1958, Lewis introduced Myra to British reporters as his wife – although he did fib a bit, and claim that she was 15. Gilley and Swaggart are first cousins once removed. Caring soon turned into love and the couple has been together ever since. more than 3 years ago. American singer-songwriter, pianist, and musician Jerry Lee Lewis (born 1935) was one of the early pioneers of rock and roll and rockabilly. “There’s been some initial interest from the movie industry,” he says. A year after Jaren's death, Lewis met his fifth wife Shawn Michelle Lewis.

“It irritates me.

Jerry Lee Lewis. Fans shunned him, radio stations dropped him, and he struggled for years to regain his stature. Well, Myra was his third wife. Jerry Lee Lewis Marries His 13 Year Old Cousin . In 2009, I really began reading, and I went to Ferriday. The men are related through maternal and paternal lines that Davis details in his book.). Years later, he went back to school.

The author was in the audience in Baton Rouge last May when Louisiana Public Broadcasting honored Gilley as a Louisiana Legend. “I think the story is destined to be a film at some point.”.

He captivated legions of fans with his flamboyant attitude and unpredictable, charismatic showmanship in stage, television, and film appearances. It was on the chitlin circuit. Gilley was a country-music singer best known for opening “the world’s biggest honky-tonk” in Pasadena, Texas—the model for the dance hall in Urban Cowboy. He divorced his second wife to wed for a third time, after falling head over heels in love with Myra Gale Brown. "She divorced me, though she didn’t need to. “I developed a pretty close friendship with Frankie Jean, who is a character herself,” he says.

“I think there’ll be a lot of interest in the book,” Gilley said.

He was known as "rock & roll's first great wild man" in the 1950s and 1960s and soon turned into one of the pioneers in country music in the 1970s. To the extent he was worried about potential scandal, it had more to with the timing of the wedding. In short, Lewis did not realize that marrying his 13 year old cousin might offend a lot of people. “When Jerry Lee became successful, Jimmy and Mickey were performing grueling manual labor,” says Davis. “He called me up for a date and I told him I didn’t like guys,” joked Gilley, seventy-six, who calls the author “Jim.”.

“The three of us are the key.

Before the event, the musician chatted about the book. wasn't Wisenor's in Mangham? Lewis and Gilley are first cousins.

“I told him stories of us growing up, about how as kids we had a game called ‘Conquered and Unconquered’: ‘I dare you to do that.’ We could’ve killed ourselves.”, [Read this: The last resident to leave the river community known as Atchafalaya was a beekeeper. is committed to supporting women to live fully, giving them tools, Jerry Lee use to stop and visit at an old service station with Calvin Wisenor.

The backlash was fierce and immediate. He did an hour-long show—preaching, playing piano, and singing gospel songs.”, “Jerry and Jimmy are two guys with the same DNA,” says Davis. While talking to People he said, "I was 14 when I first got married. Things back home were not better. The latter was a blend of country, or “hillbilly music” as it was called then, and rhythm and blues, which led to “classic” rock and roll. Judith is the ex-wife of his cousin Rusty Brown, reported CNN.

He signed with Sun Records and became a rockabilly star. I’d like to see a film done about us before I die.”, Davis has already fielded calls. Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, and Mickey Gilley.

After so many marriages and divorces, the 85-year-old finally found Judith Brown and married her in 2012. The Killer, the Preacher, and the Cowboy: J. D. Davis tells the story of three cousins from Ferriday who hit the big time.

After divorcing her, he met Jaren Elizabeth Pate and married her in 1971, according to Amomama. It was after Jane that he found Myra. “Jim pulled some things out of me that I hadn’t thought about in years,” said Gilley. The Killer, the Preacher, and the Cowboy: J. D. Davis tells the story of three cousins from Ferriday who hit the big time. Jerry Lee Lewis and his 13 year old cousin and wife.

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“There are so many interesting people in this family,” he says. Fortunately, they're still together. He first saw Lewis live at an outdoor music festival in Austin in the early 1990s, when Davis was a college student at the University of Texas. The Wisenor's were friends with my grandparents and aunt. In his twenties, he was made partner at an actuarial firm where he now manages four offices. Davis's enthralling new biography of famous cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, and Mickey Gilley, born within a twelve-month span in small-town Louisiana during the Great Depression, draws from exhaustive research and personal connections with friends and family.

Her age, the fact that she was his cousin topped by the information that they got married five months before he divorced his second wife gave rise to a massive outrage among his fans and other people. Sometimes Jimmy would go, too. She was the rocker's caregiver after he suffered from some health issues. But one relationship that almost finished his prodigious career was his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. © 2019 Creative Expansions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. He talked to Gilley’s sister Edna, who died last month at eighty-seven. Not only did all his shows get canceled but his return to the U.S wasn't a warm one either.

Jerry Lee Lewis and his 13 year old cousin and wife. According to Whos Dated Who, Jerry fell head over heels for Kerrie McCarver in the same year that he lost his fifth wife and married Kerrie in 1984.

The reason was his new bride. ], “Their singing was great but it was their piano playing that really drew me in,” says Davis, who recently published the book Unconquered: The Saga of Cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, and Mickey Gilley. They were raised in the Pentecostal church, and all had close relationships with their mothers.

His career had a bit of a revival a decade later, when he reinvented himself as a country singer, performing for audiences less offended by child brides who also happened to be blood relatives.

Lewis, known as “The Killer” for his wild way with a piano, was a huge hit in the Fifties with such rock & roll classics as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” Swaggart gained fame as a televangelist—and infamy for his fall from grace for allegedly consorting with prostitutes. What a situation. He made numerous research trips to Ferriday and also traveled to Memphis; Nashville; Baton Rouge; Houston; Branson, Missouri; and Cleveland, Tennessee. He was black and grew up dirt poor, but he became successful.

Now, seemingly overnight, that promising career was snuffed out, and his personal appearance fees took a nosedive from the then princely sum of $10,000 a night, to $250. He was in his late fifties, but when he put his hands on those keys it was like he metamorphosed into a man twenty years younger.”. That opened my eyes. A look at Louisiana's reputation through the lens of. Explaining his move, Jerry revealed, "One day she told me she was going to have my child." “One of them would do a stunt and the others would have to do it, too, or be ‘conquered,’” says Davis. Take rock 'n' roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis for example. Blue books provide telling insights into the lives of those who worked and played in New Orleans’ Storyville.

Jerry Lee Lewis began playing the piano at age 9, copying the styles of preachers and Black musicians.

It was not long before the press on both sides of the Atlantic discovered Myra’s true age. [Read this: A look at Louisiana's reputation through the lens of Easy Rider.