NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) — Two weeks after suffering a stroke, rockabilly and country legend Jerry Lee Lewis has been transferred to a rehabilitation center.
“Jerry Lee Lewis is expected to fully recover with aggressive and intensive rehab. From what I have seen thus far, he is heading in the right direction,” said Dr. Rohini Bhole, M.D., Lewis’ Neurologist, according to a statement from Lewis’s publicist.
While on the mend, his publicist said Jerry Lee Lewis has canceled his appearances on April 28 at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in New Orleans, LA, on May 18 at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, TN, and on June 8 at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA.
Lewis, 83, first found fame in the early 1950s with rockabilly hits “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” but his career nearly came to an end after his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown became public knowledge.
Lewis then transitioned into country music and scored hits such as “To Make Love Sweeter for You”, “There Must Be More to Love Than This”, “Would You Take Another Chance on Me”, and “Me and Bobby McGee”.
Despite his success, Lewis suffered from a tumultuous personal life that included rumors of drug and alcohol abuse. He was also married seven times with two of his wives dying under unusual circumstances.
Lewis’s fifth wife, Jaren Elizabeth Gunn Pate, drowned in a swimming pool amidst divorce proceedings with Lewis and his subsequent marriage to Shawn Stephens lasted for just 77 days before she died from what was reported as an overdose of methadone.
