Without Great Balls of Fire, rock 'n' roll would be "boring", the legendary, hell-raising musician Jerry Lee Lewis recently told British newspaper The Guardian, referring to his hit song.
Lewis may not be playing as many shows as before – purveying that peculiar blend of rockabilly, country and rhythm & blues – but he wowed the crowd at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in May.
He still lives in Nesbit, near Memphis, Tennessee and still has the piano-shaped pool, but the Harley-Davidson is no longer parked in the living room.
It now occupies pride of place at Lewis's club on Beale Street in Memphis.
The singer turns 80 in September and plans to "keep rocking and rolling if God blesses me as he has". Asked by The Guardian who had the most revolutionary impact, Elvis or himself, he replied: "I think we both did in our own way. I think we both were true to our music."
When asked by the paper how different would his life have been without Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On and Great Balls of Fire, Lewis replied: "Well, without those two songs rock 'n' roll would be boring in my book."
Jimmy Swaggart, the televangelist, is his cousin – "and I love him" – but Lewis denies that the preacher ever saved his life. He was asked if he really flipped 10 Cadillacs and destroyed another two Rolls-Royces in one year. "I only flipped one Rolls – no Cadillacs," he revealed.
Lewis appears in the documentary series Rock 'n' Roll America on BBC Four on July 17 at 9:00pm.
