Jerry Lee Lewis, the American rock ‘n roll pioneer who died on October 28, 2022, faced a considerable setback in his career when he married his once-removed cousin, Myra Lewis Williams, who was then known as Myra Gale Brown, when she was 13 years old.
The news of Lewis and Brown’s marriage first broke when the former was on a tour in the United Kingdom in May 1958. A news agency reporter called Ray Berry managed to get the information about the marriage, which resulted in the tour being cancelled after three shows.
Who is Myra Lewis Brown?
Myra Gale Brown was born on July 11, 1944 in Vicksburg, a city in Mississippi’s Warren County. Her parents were J.W. “Jay” Brown and Louis Brown. She also has a brother, Rusty Brown, who was born in 1954.
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Jay Brown worked as a lineman and was also an electric bass guitarist. He teamed up with his cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, who sang and played the piano, to record a number of songs.
Myra Brown and Lewis tied the knot on December 12, 1957. The next year, when the couple visited London for a concert tour, Brown told a reporter that she was Lewis’ wife, which caused a media uproar and resulted in the tour being cancelled.
When the couple went back to Mississippi, news spread about Brown being Lewis’ first cousin once removed, leading to the latter’s career in rock and roll taking a hit.
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Brown filed for divorce in 1970 citing Lewis’ infidelity and drug and alcohol problems as the reasons. She said that she had been “subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable.”
After her divorce with Lewis, Brown married Pete Malito, a detective whom she had hired to spy on Lewis. Their marriage lasted two years. She then married Richard Williams in 1984.
She has also authored the book Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis, which was turned into a film in 1989, with Winona Ryder portraying her character.
