The wild man of rock ‘n’ roll’s 1958 UK tour was always destined to be eventful. But his new wife ensured that it would go down in history
In May 1958, America’s most untamable presence stepped onto English soil for the first time. Striding into the arrivals area at Heathrow Airport, on the eve of a 37-date UK tour, Jerry Lee Lewis had by his side a teenage girl. Greeted by a phalanx of reporters, Myra Gale Lewis was asked by Ray Berry, a news agency writer, to identify herself.
“Jerry’s wife,” she answered.
The British press corps used to joke that it hadn’t had a decent story on which to chew since the end of the Second World War. They had one now. Blinking into a barrage of flashbulbs, the 22-year old rock ‘n’ roll star was asked if the marriage was his first.
“No sir,” he replied, “it’s my third.”