US singer Jerry Lee Lewis has died aged of 87, his publicist has announced.
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.
"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."
A pioneer of rock and roll, he started recording music in 1956 in Memphis. He shot to fame a year later when he released the hit Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On. It was then that major success came with Great Balls of Fire, Breathless and High School Confidential.
Nicknamed "The Killer", Lee Lewis was as well known for his controversial private life as his music. In 1958, when he was 22, he married his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown. They divorced in 1970.
Lee Lewis died at his home in Memphis.
