50 Years Ago: Jerry Lee Lewis Shoots His Bass Player

Accounts place the incident on either Sept. 28 or Sept. 29, 1977. The latter date was Lewis's 41st birthday and the day he was arrested and held in the Collierville, Tennessee, city jail. Around 1:35 p.m., Norman "Butch" Owens, Lewis's bass player at the time, arrived at Lewis's Collierville home with his wife to deliver a copy of Lewis's latest album, Country Class.

There were no indications of an argument when Owens arrived. How the bullet struck him is reported in conflicting ways. One account says Lewis was showing off the gun and did not realize it was loaded when it discharged. Other versions claim Lewis fired at a Coca-Cola bottle in his bedroom, missed by several feet, and the bullet either went astray or ricocheted and lodged in Owens's chest near his heart.

Owens was hospitalized and spent a month recovering. Because he survived and prosecutors did not establish malicious intent, authorities charged Lewis only with discharging a firearm within city limits, a lesser municipal offense compared with attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon.

In 1978 Owens filed a $400,000 lawsuit against Lewis. The shooting did not end Owens's career: he continued to play bass with other artists, later worked for Dekalb County Water and Sewer for 17 years, and retired. Owens died on Dec. 19, 2024.

The shooting preceded additional incidents that compounded Lewis's legal and public-relations problems. Within a month he was arrested for disorderly conduct after yelling obscenities at neighbors, including an off-duty police officer. In November 1977 he was charged with DUI after rolling his Rolls Royce while drunk. Less than 24 hours later he was arrested at the gates of Graceland attempting to see Elvis Presley, telling officers, "Tell him The Killer's here to see him!" Elvis declined to meet with him.

• Owens survived a chest wound and spent a month in the hospital. He later sued Lewis and continued his career.