Mississippi
Jerry Lee Lewis estate battle: Feud over late rock legend’s Mississippi ranch leaves family in legal limbo
Rock ‘n’ roll icon Jerry Lee Lewis was a pioneer within the music trade and left behind a larger-than-life legacy when he died in 2022 on the age of 87.
Also called “The Killer” for his wild persona, Lewis had an equally distinctive life-style, and at one level within the ’70s, he signed over 2/3 possession rights to his Mississippi ranch to his greatest buddy and tour supervisor, Cecil Harrelson Sr. The opposite third was secured by a regulation agency.
Harrelson Sr. died in 2012, and in his remaining will, he granted his three kids proceeds from the sale of the ranch on the situation that the property can solely be bought when Lewis died. The “Nice Balls of Fireplace” singer died in October.
A authorized battle over the 30-acre property seems to be simply starting, although, as Lewis’ son, Jerry “Lee” Lewis III, who at the moment lives on the ranch along with his sons, was served an eviction discover and ordered to depart the property because the Harrelson household launched plans to promote the Nesbit, Mississippi, land.
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Jerry Lee Lewis’ household is in authorized dispute over his property. His son, Jerry Lee Lewis III, was served eviction paperwork in January.
“My dad advised me a number of issues about what would occur when he handed away,” Lee solely advised Fox Information Digital. “I really feel like he advised me that for dang close to my whole life, and I nonetheless do not feel like he ready me for what I am going by proper now.”
“The folks which are coming at me vs. the folks he advised me would come at me – it is not the identical in any respect. That really surprises me quite a bit,” he added.
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The late nation musician lived a controversial life and was married seven instances and had six kids. At one level, he was married to his cousin, Myra Gale Brown.
Cecil additionally grew to become household when he married Jerry’s youthful sister, Linda Gail Lewis. Linda and Cecil had three kids – Cecil Harrelson Jr., MaryJean Ferguson and Annie Marie Dolan.
Shortly after Lewis’ dying, a web site was created that includes photos of the property, saying the “Jerry Lee Lewis ranch can be bought” as a “improvement alternative or fan’s dream residence.”
An indication outdoors the Mississippi residence of entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis pays homage to the late musician.
(Karen Pulfer Focht)
The entrance gate outdoors the Mississippi residence of late entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis contains a huge piano.
(Karen Pulfer Focht)
The itemizing boasts a “stocked lake, two ponds, outbuildings, a self-contained residence and swimming pool,” along with the house of the late pianist. Potential consumers might select a “hybrid improvement choice” through which the land can be used to construct a gated group or vacation resort, billed as a “as soon as in a lifetime alternative.”
Lee believed the ranch can be protected and that he would preserve the Lewis household residence after his father’s dying. He was shocked to search out out that his cousins felt otherwise.
“From my understanding, the web site went up Nov. 25,” Lee stated. “That is not even a full month after he handed away.”
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Lee came upon concerning the web site on social media whereas he was at work and claimed that Harrelson Jr. tried to drag a “quick one” by trying to kick Lee out of the Lewis household residence.
“It is not their legacy and historical past,” he stated.
Lee insisted that Harrelson Jr.’s needs to show the ranch right into a Jerry Lee Lewis museum and music vacation spot shouldn’t be how his father would have “needed issues proper now.”
Indicators across the Lewis ranch give slightly historical past into Jerry Lee’s life.
(Karen Pulfer Focht)
Jerry Lee Lewis had dozens of prime 20 nation hits by his decades-long profession.
(Karen Pulfer for Fox Information Digital )
Jerry Lee Lewis lll speaks with mourners outdoors the funeral residence as followers wait to pay remaining respects to Jerry Lee Lewis in Hernando, Mississippi, in November.
(Karen Pulfer for Fox Information Digital)
“You’d have to take action a lot work,” he stated. “We had it open for excursions on a couple of event. Possibly sooner or later we’ll do this once more as a result of I do know it is one thing he all the time loved, having bands round the home. However proper now we have to maintain it to have the ability to shield it.”
Lee’s confusion started when he assumed he was taking up the property when his father died. In Lewis’ remaining will, he said Lee ought to take over the household property, however Lewis had no authorized possession rights to the ranch.
“When it comes all the way down to it, my dad would not have willed me my household residence pondering that it was not going to be ours. That is mindless.”
Nonetheless, Lee is optimistic about staying within the residence along with his sons and persevering with the legacy that his father labored so exhausting to construct. He is created a crowdfunding marketing campaign in hopes of with the ability to buy the property as soon as it goes up on the market.
“In additional discussions between our attorneys, it appears they’ve agreed to allow us to keep till the property is bought,” Lee wrote on the marketing campaign.
He wrote that his father “hoped that the Ranch would keep within the household regardless of monetary struggles, divorces and tragedies.”
Jerry Lee Lewis was as soon as married to cousin Myra Lewis. They’re pictured with new child son Steve Allen Lewis on Feb. 28, 1959, in Ferriday, Louisiana.
(Michael Ochs Archives)
Jerry Lee Lewis discovered fame when he signed with Solar Information in 1956 and launched a canopy of Ray Worth’s “Loopy Arms.”
(Michael Ochs Archives)
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“He enlisted the assistance of his buddy and one-time brother-in-law Cecil Harrelson to take action – opting to place the Ranch in a life property with the rest to Uncle Cecil to guard it. Regardless of accounts on the contrary, my Father by no means meant the property to be handed on to Cecil and his heirs.”
Lee emphasised, “In line with my father’s needs, he left the ranch to me in his final will and testomony.”
The Harrelson household contested the marketing campaign in a press release printed on their very own web site, they usually have additionally claimed {that a} civil lawsuit is within the works.
“Lee (and others near him) selected to misrepresent the details again and again,” they wrote. “The makes an attempt to disparage our father and to break the sale of the property by making false statements, and to mislead officers of the courtroom with false data has led to protracted and expensive authorized processes to take possession. This has led us to hunt restitution within the type of a civil lawsuit. ALL events concerned can be named on this motion. With overwhelming documentation, we’re assured that the case can be determined in our favor.”
Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Money as “The Million Greenback Quartet” Dec. 4, 1956, in Memphis, Tennessee. This was a one-night jam session at Solar Studios.
(Michael Ochs Archives)
Jerry Lee Lewis greets followers with seventh spouse Judith Brown throughout a parade down Beale Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 27, 2013.
(Karen Pulfer for Fox Information Digital )
The Harrelsons didn’t instantly return Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
Lewis, a three-time Grammy Award winner, was inducted into the Nation Music Corridor of Fame on Oct. 16. He had 34 High 20 nation hits between 1968 and 1981, in keeping with the Nation Music Affiliation.
“He is my dad, and on the core of that, my dad can also be Jerry Lee Lewis,” Lee stated.
“It is the wildest factor you would ever consider. You already know, once you’re a child, you assume, ‘That is simply my dad. He is an important musician.’ Then you definately get slightly older, and you are like, ‘Nicely, this man made an artwork type and altered the world.’”
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