Great Balls of Fire

Outlined flaming piano surrounded by five red lights below white text over black background.  

The song "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the most popular Rockabilly songs during the 1950's. Peaking at #1 on the charts, the song sold over 1 million copies in the first 10 days after the record was released on November 11th, 1957.

The image is reference to the legend that Jerry Lee Lewis set his piano on fire one night while performing. Reportedly there was a conflict between Jerry Lee and Chuck Berry, another famous performer during the era. Jerry Lee wanted to close the show and Chuck Berry would not let him. In order to upstage him, Jerry Lee lit his piano on fire while performing 'Great Balls of Fire' and sang until the piano burned to the ground. In a 1999 article in Country Weekly Jerry Lee was asked about the notorious incident and said "I don't know where people would get an idea like that. Someone would have to be crazy to set a piano on fire. Of course, that was so long ago and the story's been told so many times, I sometimes wonder if I really did do it." neither confirming nor denying the story.

Jerry Lee Lewis' career ended quickly when news that he married his first cousin once removed Myra Gale Brown. Due to her young age (13 years old) controversy broke out and Jerry Lee was blacklisted from the industry. His career would never recover.