Did Jerry Lee Lewis marry his 13-year old cousin? Child bride claim explored as Rock & Roll legend dies aged 87 

Rock & Roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis passed away on October 28 at the age of 87. The news of his demise was confirmed in a statement by his agent, who referred to the musician as “perhaps the last true, great icon of the birth of rock 'n' roll.”

Lewis’ publicist, Zach Farnum, also remembered his journey in the music industry and said,

“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 till it was him alone to bear witness, and sing of the birth of rock 'n' roll.”

While Lewis is known to be one of the pioneers of the rock & roll industry and recognized for his contribution to music, the musician’s life was also marred by several controversies.

His successful career reportedly came to a temporary halt when he married his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown at the age of 22. Although their controversial marriage ended in 1970, the pair reportedly remained in contact.

According to his publicist, Jerry Lee Lewis took his last breath at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, with his seventh wife Judith by his side at the time of death.

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A look into Jerry Lee Lewis’s controversial marriage to ‘child bride’ Myra Gale Brown

Jerry Lee Lewis' career came to standstill after he married his 13-year-old cousin Myra (Image via Getty Images)

Jerry Lee Lewis made global headlines after news of his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown came to light in 1958. The duo tied the knot on December 12, 1957, and the musician reportedly wanted to take his wife on his England tour the following year.

As the pair landed at London’s Heathrow Airport, reporter Ray Berry came to learn about their secret wedding. A 22-year-old Lewis earned an immediate backlash for marrying a minor, who was also his cousin and the daughter of bassist J.W. Brown.

Reports suggest that prior to the news, Lewis did not mention Gale’s actual age and said she was 15 years old. The musician was also allegedly warned against taking his new wife on tour but refused to comply.

As the reporter asked Gale, “Who are you?,” the-then teenager introduced herself as Lewis’ wife. The former was immediately dubbed as the “13-year-old child bride” while Lewis earned major criticism for the marriage.

Gale (presently Myra Lewis Williams) opened up about her marriage to Jerry Lee Lewis while speaking to journalist Alan Light for a 2010 Rolling Stone story.

Light later shared to Medium's Cuepoint that Williams told him she decided to tell the truth about her wedding in 1958 as no one told her how to treat reporters at the time.

“The only problem was that nobody told me anything. So when a reporter asked me, 'Who are you?' I was the one who let the big ol' cat out of the bag. It was a perfect storm—it couldn't have happened at a worse time, at a worse place. Everything just came together and a major explosion happened.”

She also said that she could have prevented the entire controversy if she was well-informed about the situation:

“I could so easily have said, ‘I’m J.W. Brown’s daughter. Because that was the truth! If anybody had told me anything, I could have prevented this thing. But they didn’t, and I didn’t, and the rest is history, I guess.”

Williams also said that she considered herself mature during her wedding to Jerry Lee Lewis and mentioned that she never resented their marriage:

“I don't think I ever resented it for me, though, I always resented it for what they did to Jerry. It wasn't harming me, it was harming somebody I loved, that was the pain of it.”

She also defended her former husband and said:

“They were looking for a place to stick the knife into rock & roll. And Jerry gave it to them—well, I did, I opened my mouth. That’s exactly what it was.”

Alan Light even told Medium that Myra Lewis Williams and Jerry Lee Lewis “were playful and affectionate” during their 2010 Rolling Stone photoshoot and were seen “joking and giggling, poking and swatting each other.”

Following their 1957 wedding, the pair went on to have two children, daughter Phoebe and son Steve. The latter passed away at the age of three. Williams and Lewis eventually parted ways and divorced in 1970.

Myra Lewis Williams also wrote about her marriage to Jerry Lee Lewis in the 1982 book Great Balls of Fire, which was adapted into a film starring Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder in 1989.