Goodness gracious: Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard in harmony

It seems congratulations are in order to the producers of the Grammys who somehow managed to persuade the ageing rockers Little Richard (pictured left) and Jerry Lee Lewis (right) to share the same stage on Sunday without attempting to kill each other.

Jerry Lee, 72, and Richard, 75, have loathed each other for more than
half a century. It is a hatred based on jealousy, rivalry and racism. Yet they have frequently shared concert tours around the world and each time, the same fraught question has to be dealt with: who will be acknowledged as the true 'star' and therefore be granted the honour of closing the show?

On one famous occasion Little Richard lost that particular battle. He
had to go on before Jerry Lee. His retaliation was sweet. First he
reduced the audience to a sweaty senile frenzy. Then he re-entered the auditorium while Jerry was trying to get his act going, blandly signed autographs, then left taking half the audience with him.

This was an act of courage considering that Jerry Lee didn't get his nickname 'The Killer' for nothing. On one tour of England he blew a gasket on the first night, loudly exclaiming that he was damned if he'd accept a dressing room next to one occupied by "a mothering jigaboo".

No such fireworks at the Grammys, where the question of who came on last was neatly avoided. The two old boys shared the moment. Sitting back to back at their pianos, they treated the audience to their iconic anthems, Jerry Lee with Great Balls Of Fire and Little Richard with Good Golly Miss Molly.

It would be nice to think that once they were wheeled off stage, they had a hug for old time's sake and shared a bed-time Ovaltine. But it's doubtful.