Sun Records and Jerry Lee Lewis

Sun Records and Jerry Lee Lewis - Right around the time Sun Record's owner Sam Philips was vacationing in Florida contemplating what to do with the rest of the money he had received from selling his new found star Elvis' contract to RCA, a young man by the name of Jerry Lee Lewis showed up at the studio in Memphis to audition for Sun. Sun's engineer/producer at the time, Jack Clement recorded a demo of him performing a cover of "Crazy Arms" and one of his own compositions. He had already been kicked out of Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Texas for playing Boogie-Woogie versions of gospel songs and had made his way to Memphis, to try his hand at being a professional musician. 

Sun signed him and by 1957 he had a string of hits to his name, including "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," the later reaching #2 on Billboard's pop charts. He was know for his outrageous stage show and crazy antics. His career was about ruined in 1958 when it was found out that the 23 year old performer had gotten married to his 13 year old cousin (his third wife at that). He was pretty much blacklisted from radio and had a rough time getting his career back on track for the next several years. He eventually got his career going again by the mid 60s, this time playing country music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and his music and persona has influenced countless of musicians.