RINGO, BARBARA,OLIVIA ATTEND JERRY LEE LEWIS´SHOW AT LONDON PALLADIUM

Jerry Lee Lewis is on his farewell tour after eight colourful decades. He is, as host Mike Read reminded us, the "last man standing". Over those years, "The Killer" helped to invent rock n’ roll with songs like Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On and Great Balls of Fire. A wild performer at the piano, he was part of the ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ along with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. And he — famously — fell from grace after marrying his 13-year-old cousin.

Ringo, Barbara Bach, Olivia Harrison, Peter Asher, Albert Lee, Albert Lee and James Burton celebrating the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis last night at the London Palladium, and among the audience were Robert Plant. Jerry Lee Lewis will celebrate his 80th birthday on Sept. 29 and all his friends sang “Happy birthday” (with Ringo on stage), check out the video below. 

He opened with Stick McGhee's Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee. His voice may have been a touch frail but his hands were as agile as ever. That heavy left at the bottom of the keyboard and the dancing right at the top: they were, at times, lightning. There was a tremendous amount of goodwill at this show, enough to forgive the odd rambling country ballad and a few wayward melodies.

And during Whole Lotta Shakin' he gave the song a literal interpretation as he tremblingly drank from a Coke can. 

Lewis played for a respectable 50 minutes. At times the evening had a distinctly cabaret feel to it which distracted somewhat from the aura of the legend on stage. Did it add anything to the evening when Read told us that Great Balls of Fire, his final song, was Princess Diana's favourite.

Ringo sent a Twitter post on his official account:

Olivia Harrison

As a birthday cake was presented at the end, Ringo Starr,Robert Plant and a host of other musicians came on stage to applaud Lewis. It was a shame they didn't all play together. It would have been a fitting demonstration of just how influential Lewis was to both Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, and hundreds more bands since.

Jerry Lee Lewis with his seventh wife, Judith, and Ringo at the 30th Annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Hall on April, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio.