Thirty-six years ago this week, security at Graceland, Elvis Presley's Memphis manse, called the police to come deal with an unwanted visitor. A drunk, gun-waving lunatic in a brand-new, white Lincoln Continental was blocking the compound's drive and causing a hell of a ruckus at three in the morning.
That lunatic was none other than the Killer: Jerry Lee Lewis, the "Great Balls of Fire" hit-maker and Elvis' compatriot in Sun Record's Million Dollar Quartet. After a night on the town, the rock and roll pioneer decided he wanted an audience with the King and drove on over to his old acquaintance's home just before 3 a.m. on November 23, 1976.
Lewis evidently became belligerent after being informed that Elvis was sleeping, and the Graceland staff figured the .38 Derringer he was brandishing was probably as loaded as he was. Harold Lloyd, Elvis' cousin and head of security, called the cops and claimed later to have done so at Presley's behest. Whether Elvis was ever informed of the Killer's early-morning visit or not, the incident instantly became one of the wildest and most amusing rock and roll arrests of all time.
The highly eccentric Lewis is hardly the only famous musician to have a bizarre brush with the law, of course. Frequently prone to both uncensored megalomania and orgiastic substance abuse, rock stars are often shocked to find themselves in incriminating circumstances that must later be resolved with lawyers, fines and community service. As Jerry Lee proves, though, some stories stand out above the rest.
In honor of the Killer's terrorism of Graceland, Rocks Off has compiled a list of the ten most awesome musician arrests in recent memory. To up the difficulty factor, no one was maimed or killed in any of these tales. See if your favorite mentally ill star made the cut:
10. Ozzy Osbourne Salutes the Alamo
The Ozzman's long career is full of enough outrageous public behavior to fill a separate list. There's no question as to his most infamous infraction in the Lone Star State, though. That'd obviously be the time he flopped his dick out and pissed on the Alamo.
Legend has it that the metal godfather was wastedly taking in a few sights after a San Antonio show (wearing his wife's dress, natch) when nature called and he obliviously relieved himself on a wall ringing the sacred mission/fort. And the cops did indeed bust him for his public urination.
Contrary to the fable, though, Ozzy never pissed on the Alamo. He pissed, instead, on the Cenotaph, a gigantic, impossible-to-miss stone monument to the Alamo dead across the street from the mission. Decide for yourself whether if that's better or worse.
