Jimmy Swaggart Dead at 90. His Close Ties to Country Music

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Well-known ’80s televangelist and eventually disgraced preacher Jimmy Swaggart died on July 1st at the age of 90. Known for his Pentecostal crusades in the ’80s, his fiery sermons, and eventually his “I have sinned” speech when he had to admit to his massive congregation indiscretions with a prostitute in 1988, you probably don’t immediately think of him when you think of music, or country music specifically. But there is a reason that in 1982 Newsweek dubbed Swaggart the “King of Honky Tonk Heaven.”

Jimmy Swaggart was very active throughout his career recording Southern Gospel songs and albums. He placed four albums in the Top 40 of the Billboard Christian Albums charts, specifically 1984’s Living Waters (#12), 1984’s Jesus Just the Mention of Your Name (#32), 1985’s Sweet Anointing (#22) and 1986’s It’s Beginning to Rain (#13). Swaggart was also nominated for a Grammy for his 1980 album Worship.

Even without his ministry, Swaggart’s passing would have been notable in the Gospel world. He sold 15 million albums worldwide. The day before he passed away (June 30th), he was announced he would be inducted into the Southern Gospel Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025.

However, Swaggart had no love for Christian rock music that also came to popularity in the ’80s with bands like Stryper. He co-authored a book called Religious Rock n Roll: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing in 1987—a year before his teary-eyed “I have sinned” speech.

This might have put him at odds with one of his close relatives who has strong ties to both rock and country music. In fact, Swaggart had not one, not two, but three cousins in the country and rock realm. Swaggart very well could have become a country music performer, or part of the original stable of Sun Records artists under slightly different circumstances.

Jimmy Swaggart was the cousin of Country Music Hall of Famer and rock ‘n roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis. They both grew up in the small impoverished town of Ferriday, Louisiana, and were born only six months apart. They would grow up singing and performing music together. Sometimes they were joined by another cousin born the year after them, country legend Mickey Gilley. Though younger by a decade, they were also all related to Jerry Lee’s younger sister, Linda Gail Lewis, who also has a career in vintage rock ‘n roll and country.

Jimmy Swaggart, Linda Gail Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley (via Jerry Lee Lewis on Instagram)

Jimmy Swaggart married at 17 in 1952 to a woman he met in church while singing Gospel. They shortly had a son, and as Swaggart pursued becoming a preacher throughout rural Louisiana, the young couple struggled, living in the basements of churches and the homes of fellow pastors. At this same time, Jerry Lee Lewis was making a reported $20,000 a week as one of the biggest artists on Sun Records.

The story goes that Sam Phillips at Sun wanted to start a Gospel line of music, and wanted Jimmy Swaggart to be his first and flagship artist. It couldn’t have been easy to turn down the Sun opportunity. But Swaggart felt he was called to preach the Gospel, and turned the opportunity down, only returning to singing Gospel music once his televangelism career took off.

Swaggart would eventually find his audience. He would become a multi-millionaire with millions of television viewers, and along with his Gospel music career, author 50 books. But it all came crashing down after numerous prostitution scandals and alleged cocaine use, though even after the scandals, Swaggart continued to preach. In 2022, cousins Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart got together and recorded a Southern Gospel album themselves called The Boys From Ferriday.

Maybe Newsweek was being a bit hyperbolic and presumptuous when they called Jimmy Swaggart the “King of Honky Tonk Heaven.” But he certainly had a history in music, and familial ties with multiple country stars. Just as Mickey Gilley and Jerry Lee Lewis came into the world the same year, they also left, with Mickey Gilley passing away in May of 2022, and Jerry Lee passing in October. Now their cousin Jimmy will join them in honky tonk heaven, whether he should be considered the “king” of it, or not.

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