Jerry Lee Lewis, known as The Killer, was born in 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana, where he began playing piano in his youth with his cousins Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart. He grew up listening to the Louisiana Hayride and Grand Ole Opry on the radio, singing and playing gospel at church, and sneaking into Haney's Big House, a local Black juke joint on the Chitlin' Circuit whose performers, including B.B. King, Roy Milton, Bobby Bland, and Ray Charles, influenced his later style. He made his first public appearance in 1949 at the grand opening of a Ford dealership in Ferriday, playing piano and singing "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee," later landed a radio show in Natchez, cut his first demo in New Orleans in 1951, and that same year was expelled from the Assembly of God Southwestern Bible Institute in Waxahatchie, Texas, for his boogie-woogie rendition of "My God is Real" during a church assembly. In 1956 his father took him to Memphis, where he recorded demo tapes at Sun Records and launched his career under owner Sam Phillips with his rendition of Ray Price's "Crazy Arms." Touring with Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, he developed his standing piano style, and his hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," though originally banned from broadcast by BMI for being too scandalous, rose to number one on both the country and R&B charts. The success of other 1950s hits including "Great Balls of Fire," "Breathless," and "High School Confidential" made him a superstar. His turbulent personal life caused a setback in his career for about 12 years, ending in 1963 with the number-two country hit "Another Place" and the number-one country hit "To Make Love Sweeter for You," followed by more hits through the 1970s, including "Would You Take Another Chance on Me," "Chantilly Lace," and a remake of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGehee." In 1986 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 2004 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him number 24 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in 2008 he was inducted into both the Hit Parade Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. His contributions to music have also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and he earned a dozen gold records in both rock and country as well as several Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award.