Quotes

[on his being a breech birth] "I was born feet first, and I've been jumpin' ever since."

If I'm going to Hell, I'm going there to play on a piano!

[on Ray Charles] "What a great guy he was. Every time I saw him, I would say, 'Ray, this is Jerry Lee, how you doing?' And he would say, 'Well, you looking good, Jerry Lee.' He always said that. He was one of my best friends."

[Explaining why W.C. Fields is his favorite comedian] "He's just got his way of doing things. And if you don't like it, he'll kick your teeth out."

[on his feelings towards ex-wife Myra Lewis' biography about him entitled "Great Balls of Fire"] "I says to her, 'Myra, that damn book o' yours -- that weren't no "Great Balls of Fire" you wrote. You shoulda called it "Great Buncha Balls" instead, darlin', 'cos that's all it is."

[on the film Great Balls of Fire! (1989)]: "I never acted like that in my life. That movie was bad news."

[Referring to the film Great Balls of Fire! (1989)]: "It's all lies. Maybe not lies, but it's their story, not mine."

[on "The Killer"]: People think I'm called 'The Killer' because of my wild lifestyle. I've had the nickname since I was a boy. I started calling other kids Killer. But the name stuck with me. Even now, I'll ask someone, 'How's it going, Killer?'

[How he got the nickname Killer]: I got the name when I was about 15 years old: I was leaving the schoolhouse, and Cecil Harrelson said, 'Well, I'll see you later, Killer' - and I said, 'OK, I'll meet you at the pool hall!' We both got suspended that day - two weeks apiece, and we didn't even know each other - we'd just met. I was fighting with a teacher, he was fighting with a teacher, and so we figured we'd call ourselves Killer. And that's how it got started.

I never considered myself the greatest, but I'm the best.

If the Lord made anything better than a woman he kept it for himself

Either be hot or cold. If you are lukewarm, the Lord will spew you forth from His mouth

I've always showed up. If I got paid.

I've learned to be one of the hardheadedest cats in the world. I've learned that.

I never set fire to a piano. I'd like to have got away with it, though. I pushed a couple of them in the river. They wasn't any good

When they look back on me I want 'em to remember me not for all my wives, although I've had a few, and certainly not for any mansions or high livin' money I made and spent. I want 'em to remember me simply for my music.

I am right. I'm always right. One time I thought I was wrong, I found out I was right.

Other people - they practice and they practice... these fingers of mine, they got brains in 'em. You don't tell them what to do - they do it. God given talent

My momma always said, 'You and Elvis are pretty good, but y'all ain't no Chuck Berry.

Hippies? Why, I'm the original.

I wasn't the kind of guy who'd take a girl and put her up on a hill, and live with her for eight years, and then just marry her when I got her pregnant. That was a fact. I'm not mentioning any names. I wouldn't be talkin' about Elvis Presley unless I was talking about Elvis Presley.

I never drank that much. Well, I have took a few pills in my life, but who hasn't?

[on Elvis Prelsey's underage girls] Sure he did it. It's well known. I married my girls.

Elvis was more rockabilly. Not rock'n'roll. Rockabilly - which is close to hillbilly.

I knew that, yeah. Rock'n'roll, blues, boogie woogie, you can look at BB King, look at Elvis Presley, you can look at the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but when it comes down to it, it's Jerry Lee Lewis. His music is definitely way ahead of its time.

How can it be the devil's music? Satan didn't give me the talent. God gave me the talent, and I've always told people that.

Well, I listened to other people, I liked them, but I could never find anybody that was better than me.