With official reports of the death of rock ‘n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis’ death, music execs, musicians, Hollywood figures and fans alike have all expressed their condolences online.
Dennis Quaid, who starred as Lewis in the 1989 musical biopic “Great Balls of Fire!” released a statement expressing the timelessness of his music.
“Jerry Lee was a Christian, an American icon and the greatest piano player in the world,” Quaid wrote. “People will be listening to ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and ‘Whole Lot of Shakin” 500 years from now. I will miss him. God bless you Jerry Lee.”
The Marshall Tucker Band, meanwhile, released a statement on Twitter, recalling an encounter that showcased just how full of life Lewis was.
“We are very sorry for the loss of Jerry Lee Lewis…The Killer. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family,” Doug Gray and the band wrote. “Once we both were on private jets landing at the same airport in Nashville. He got off his plane and complimented our jet. We complimented his… he then wanted to trade planes and fly away!”
“We were all a little inebriated. It didn’t happen, of course,” the statement continued. “They pilots weren’t having it! It was pretty hilarious at the time. He was a man who never wanted to stop… until now… God Bless JLL and his family!”
“The Killer. The greatest. The wildest. The one that changed rock and roll. And country. And influenced a whole lotta piano players,” wrote SiriusXM host and music publicist Eric Alper. “Jerry Lee Lewis has died at the age of 87. Long live Jerry Lee Lewis.”
Lewis, known for hits like “Great Balls of Fire,” “Crazy Arms” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” died Friday at the age of 87.
“Judith, his seventh wife, was by his side when he passed away at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, south of Memphis,” his representative Zach Farnum said in a statement. “He told her, in his final days, that he welcomed the hereafter, and that he was not afraid.”
Lewis’ death had been wrongly reported earlier this week by TMZ.
Read below for more memories and tributes to the “Great Balls of Fire” singer.