Great Balls of Fire singer Jerry Lee Lewis dead at 87

American singer Jerry Lee Lewis has died at the age of 87, his publicist has confirmed, following recent inaccurate reports of his death.

Publicist Zach Farnum said in a statement: ‘Lewis, perhaps the last true, great icon of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, whose marriage of blues, gospel, country, honky-tonk and raw, pounding stage performances so threatened a young Elvis Presley that it made him cry, has died.’

Farnum added: ‘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.’

Lewis shot to fame in the 1950s with his smash hit Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On, followed by the iconic Great Balls of Fire and Breathless.

He has been long revered as an outstanding live performer, previously dabbling in several genres, including gospel and country.

Confirmation of his death comes just days after his publicist Farnum was forced to deny reports that the star had died, stating that he was still alive.

On Wednesday, reports surfaced for a brief moment that the revered musician died at his home in Memphis, which Farnum later quashed to ABC News.

However, the Louisiana-born singer’s life was also embroiled in controversy.

While he toured in England, the press discovered he was married to his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown.

He married her while still married to his previous wife, and it’s thought Brown could’ve even been 12-years-old at the time.

As a result, Lewis cancelled his tour and he was blacklisted from the radio.

His earnings also massively dropped overnight, to almost nothing.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in 2014, he said: ‘I probably would have rearranged my life a little bit different, but I never did hide anything from people. I just went on with my life as usual.’

Lewis – who called himself The Killer – was once described as a ‘one-man stampede’ after chairs were thrown at him during a 1957 performance.

He said of himself at the time: ‘There was rockabilly. There was Elvis [Presley]. But there was no pure rock ‘n’ roll before Jerry Lee Lewis kicked in the door.’

Lewis had six children, two of which have died. His son, Steve Allen Lewis, drowned in a swimming pool in 1962 aged three, while Jerry Lee Jr died in a traffic accident aged 19 in 1973.

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