Little Richard, the architect of rock'n'roll, dies aged 87

Little Richard, a founding father of rock & roll whose wild vocals, cool style and outlandish personality went on to influence many future artists, died Saturday. He was 87. Richard, whose real name was Richard Penniman, was born in Macon, Georgia in December 1932. He had been in poor health for several years, suffering hip problems, a stroke and a heart attack. Hi son, Danny Jones Penniman, confirmed the musicians death to the media. The cause of death given by his agent was bone cancer.

Little Richard’s career began in the late 1940’s but with little success. His big break came when he signed to Specialty Records in 1955, releasing a run of raw rockin’ singles starting in 1956 with “Tutti Frutti” then followed up by “Long Tall Sally”, “Rip It Up”, “The Girl Can’t Help It”, “Lucille”, “Keep A-Knockin’” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly”. His stage persona - outrageous piano playing, gospel influenced yells, pompadoured hair, eyes lined with mascara and sex charged lyrics made him a world wide star.

However, Richard decided to leave stardom In October 1957 during a tour of Australia. He saw a fireball crossing the sky (which was actually the Sputnik 1 satellite) and took it as a sign from God that he needed to change his ways. In 1958 he became a preacher, before returning to secular music in 1962. The conflict between his faith and the “devil’s music” was a theme for much of the rest of his life. At times he announced he was gay. At other times he said God made him a man to be with a woman. In old age, Richard renounced his bisexuality/omnisexuality, saying he had asked God to save him.

He would never hit the Top 10 again after 1958 but his influence was massive and his claim to be the originator of rock‘n’roll was never in doubt. Artists such as The Beatles, Elton John and Prince have cited him as an influence while his songs have been covered by The Everly Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Elvis Costello to name a few.

Lack of more hits and talk of his personal life did little to stop his popularity. He appeared in various films and TV shows throughout the 80’s and 90’s. In 1986, he was one of the 10 original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1993 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys and in 2002 he was honored with The NAACP – Hall of Fame Award.

Little Richard lived in Nashville before his death and performed periodically. His onstage showmanship of his early days was now gone thanks to hip replacement surgery in 2009. He could only perform sitting down at his piano in his custom made wheelchair. His final performance was at The Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender and Car Show in 2013.

His last public appearance took place in October 2019. Richard, along with Brenda Lee, received the Distinguished Artist Award at Tennessee governor Bill Lee’s Nashville residence at the 2019 Governor’s Arts Awards.

Per various news outlets, Little Richard will reportedly will be buried at 11 am on May 20 at Oakwood University’s Oakwood Memorial Gardens in Huntsville, Alabama.