When Jerry Lee Lewis – pianist, singer and rock-and-roll pioneer – released his best-selling album of duets in 2006, he called it Last Man Standing. In this, at least, he was correct.
The title referred specifically to Lewis’s status among the alumni of the legendary Sun Studios record label in Memphis. It was there that producer Sam Phillips nurtured the careers of seminal country, rockabilly and rock-and-roll artists including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Lewis himself. But Lewis, who died at 87 years old on October 28 2022, eventually outlasted the whole cohort of rock and roll’s first wave of stars – including Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
The presence on Last Man Standing of luminaries from the worlds of blues, rock and country music – including B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson – was testament to the wide-ranging esteem in which Lewis was held as a musician.
