On Friday, October 28, rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis passed away at the age of 87. The great rock ‘n’ roll icon made an unforgettable marriage of blues, gospel, country, honky-tonk and raw, pounding stage performances. Lewis was there at the beginning, with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly.

Lewis is the mastermind behind classic’s like “Great Balls of Fire,” “Breathless,” “Whole Lot Of Shakin’ Going On” and more. He is the recipient of four GRAMMY awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. Lewis had a dozen gold records in rock and country and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Lewis suffered through the last years of his life from various illnesses and injuries that physicians have often said, should have taken him decades ago. He had abused his body so thoroughly as a young man he was given little chance of lasting through middle age, let alone old age.

“He is ready to leave,” his wife Judith said, just before his death. Judith, his seventh wife, was by his side when he passed away at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi. He told her, in his final days, that he welcomed the hereafter, and that he was not afraid.

Lewis is survived by his wife, Judith Coghlan Lewis, his children Jerry Lee Lewis III, Ronnie Lewis, Pheobe Lewis and Lori Lancaster, sister Linda Gail Lewis, cousin Jimmy Swaggart and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Services and more information will be announced in the following days. In lieu of flowers, the Lewis family requests donations be made in Jerry Lee Lewis’ honor to the Arthritis Foundation or MusiCares, the non-profit foundation of the GRAMMYs / National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.