How is Jimmy Swaggart related to Jerry Lee Lewis? Famous ties explored in wake of televangelist's death at 90 

Popular televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who passed away at 90 on July 1, 2025, was the double first cousin of the late rock 'n' roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis. Swaggart also shared a familial tie with the late country musician Mickey Gilley, being first cousins once removed. Gilley and Lewis were first cousins.

According to a Country Roads Magazine article, author J.D. Davis penned a book about the three cousins in 2012 titled Unconquered: The Saga of Cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, and Mickey Gilley.

Swaggart, Lewis, and Gilley were born around 1935–36 when America was undergoing the final years of the Great Depression. Despite not having a wealthy upbringing, the three cousins were blessed with musical talent from a young age. They attended the Pentecostal church in Ferriday, Louisiana, where the locals called them "The Ferriday Three."

Davis said that Swaggart and Lewis often snuck inside a club called Haynie’s Big House, owned by Will Haynie, and they would listen to blues. Swaggart and Gilley got married to their respective wives during their teenage years.

Lewis, however, ventured out into his musical path and made a name for himself by 1956. According to Davis, Swaggart and Gilley got inspired by Lewis and set out on "their own paths to success."

Davis detailed one of the games the cousins used to play, called "Conquered and Unconquered."

"One of them would do a stunt and the others would have to do it, too, or be 'conquered,'" he explained.

Davis continued on to talk about how they would do the same.

"They jumped from boxcar to boxcar or executed death-defying feats on their bicycles. They were always looking for a new, amazing feat that would best the other two," he said.

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A look into Jimmy Swaggart's tribute to his late cousin

Mickey Gilley, the youngest of the cousins, passed away on May 7, 2022. Jimmy Swaggart took to Instagram at the time to mourn the loss. He recalled growing up alongside Gilley and Lewis and reminisced about a 10-year-old Gilley asking him for piano lessons. The preacher praised his late cousin for being a quick learner.

In his post, Jimmy Swaggart wrote:

"But alongside all of his achievements in music, the thing that thrilled me the most was that some time ago he called me and said, "Jimmy, I've made things right with the Lord." I saw an immediate change in his life in these last few days and that is the thing that's far more important to me."

The middle cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, passed away a few months after Gilley, on October 28, 2022. Jimmy Swaggart penned a heartwarming tribute for him at the time through his Instagram:

"It's been my privilege to have Jerry Lee in my life as both family and friend. I will always be thankful that I had the opportunity to work with Jerry Lee before he passed from this world. But what I am most thankful for is the knowledge, the certainty, that Jerry Lee has gone home to be with his Lord and Savior."

Before Lewis' death, he and Swaggart recorded a gospel album titled The Boys From Ferriday.

In a June 2022 Instagram post, the televangelist recalled learning church hymns alongside his cousins. He also expressed his gratitude for Lewis' return to faith and being able to make an album together. He wrote:

"We have put together this one-of-a-kind collection that will take you back to our boyhood days in that little white-framed church. As Jerry Lee and I once again play and sing these Spirit-filled hymns, we believe that it will bless you abundantly so."

Swaggart also said he and his cousins grew up together more as brothers than cousins.

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Jimmy Swaggart reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest on June 15 and had not been in his best health for a while. An official cause of death is yet to be disclosed.