I'm going to assume he's actually dead now. That som bitch outlived the entire Million Dollar Quartet! He was already considered washed up when I was a kid. His country career didn't track with me because country was strictly forbidden in our house (other than Hee Haw- that probably had more to do with Barbi Benton's cut off shorts).
I sought out his Sun greatest hits as part of my tasteful accumulation of classic vinyl in the 70's and 80's. "Great Ball's of Fire" is one of my favorite comedy's when you realize that Dennis Quaid is playing Jerry Lee as Goofy from Walt Disney!!
He still sounded vital on "Mean Old Man", his collaboration disc. One of those records whose contents are always welcome in an IPOD shuffle. He married too many underage girls and got away with murder several times to ever be my hero. No one can take his place on the Mount Rushmore of rock and roll though.