Jerry Lee Lewis awarded honorary high school diploma by Concordia Parish School Board



Louisiana-born musician Jerry Lee Lewis, who played the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2007, will be 78 on Sept. 29, 2013. He received an honorary high school diploma Oct. 10, 2013 from the Concordia Parish School Board. (NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive) 

By Chelsea Brasted, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on October 11, 2013


Legendary Louisiana rocker Jerry Lee Lewis can lay claim to a number of successes, but he can add high school diploma to the list after the Concordia Parish School Board voted to grant him an honorary degree in its Oct. 10 meeting, according to the Natchez Democrat.

Lewis and his wife, Judith, had reportedly been talking about how Lewis wanted a diploma, according to a quote from Concordia Parish School Board president Paul Nelson in the Natchez Democrat.

The Ferriday native's first high school attempt was in the Southwestern Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, where Lewis' mother had enrolled the young musician to help curve his musical interests in a more godly direction. But Lewis played a boogie-woogie version of "My God is Real," which earned him the boot.

“The boy that wanted to sing it, poor old boy, he wanted to sing it real slow and draggy,” Lewis told The New York Times in 2006 of the incident that led his leaving school early. “I said: ‘Son, you want this song to go over? Or do you want it to be real draggy and drug out?’ He wanted it to go over, and I said, ‘Well, do it this way.’ Doomba, doomba, doomba, doomba, and it went, man. It went over. They didn’t kick him out of Bible school, but they wanted to kick me out. But every kid in the Bible school said, ‘If you kick Jerry Lee Lewis out of this school, then I’m going too.’ The dean came over and said, ‘You see that? You have ruined a great school.’ I said, ‘I haven’t ruined anything.’ I said, ‘Look, let me just take a couple of weeks off, to cool things off, and I’ll be back.’ And he said, ‘That’s a good idea.’ I didn’t go back.”

According to the Natchez Democrat, Lewis' diploma reads: "This certificate is awarded to Jerry Lee Lewis for having made a significant contribution to the music industry through his life's work. The awarding of this diploma is based on his exemplary service to the community and in recognition of his bringing worldwide fame to the Town of Ferriday and Concordia Parish."


Chelsea Brasted is an entertainment reporter based in Baton Rouge. Email her at [email protected] or call 225.460.1350. You can also keep up with all her local updates on Twitter (@cabrasted) and through NOLA.com Baton Rouge on Facebook.


http://www.nola.com/music/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2013/10/jerry_lee_lewis_awarded_...

Geez! Only one reply to Jerry Lee's milestone High School diploma?

Well, here's to the rest of ya'll:


 

‘You see that? You have ruined a great school.

So years later they decide to reward him for his behavior ~ perfect!