Hellfire

Hellfire

The Jerry Lee Lewis Story

Summary

The dramatic and tormented life of Jerry Lee Lewis is the most fabled in rock 'n' roll history. Hellfire is a wild, riveting, and beautifully written biography that received universal acclaim on its original publication and is now an American classic.

Born in Louisiana to a family legacy of great courage and greater madness, Jerry Lee was torn throughout his life between a harsh Pentecostal God and the Devil of alcohol, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.
At twenty-one he recorded 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On', which propelled him to stardom. Almost immediately, news of his marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin all but destroyed his career. Over the next twenty years, Jerry Lee, ever indomitable and ever wild, would rise again as a country star, and then lose it all again to his own inner demons.

Hellfire is a brilliant, audacious journey into the soul of a rock 'n' roll legend, and into the soul of rock 'n' roll itself.

Reviews

  • The number one greatest music book ever
    Observer

About the author

Nick Tosches

Nick Tosches was a critically acclaimed American journalist, novelist and poet. Celebrated for defining the emerging genre of rock journalism in the 1970s, he is renowned for chronicling the lives of the great icons of his time.

His biographies include Country: The Biggest Music in America, Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of Rock in the Wild Years Before Elvis, Power on Earth, Arbor House, Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams, The Devil and Sonny Liston, Where Dead Voices Gather and King of the Jews.

He is also the author of the novels Cut Numbers, Trinities, In the Hand of Dante, and Me and the Devil, and the poetry collection Chaldea and I Dig Girls. He died on 20th October 2019.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more