No one did it quite like Little Richard! With his flashy outfits, freshly beat face, shiny hair piled high, zealous shrieks and gender-bending persona, Little Richard’s showmanship was unmatched.
Born Richard Wayne Penniman in Macon, Georgia, Little Richard was one of 12 children. He grew up around uncles who were preachers and a father who wasn’t supportive of his music and accused him of being gay. After performing at the Tick Tock Club in Macon and winning a local talent show, Penniman landed his first record deal with RCA in 1951. (He became “Little Richard” at 15 when the R&B and blues worlds were filled with acts like Little Esther and Little Milton).
Penniman was one of rock ‘n’ roll’s founding fathers who, along with Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, helped shatter the color line on the music charts and brought what was once called “race music” into the mainstream. Penniman was the ultimate performer whose style was to pound the keys mercilessly as he belted out hit after hit starting with “Tutti Frutti,” followed by showstoppers that included “Long Tall Sally,” “Rip It Up,” “Lucille,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” and “Keep A-Knockin,” all driven by his pumping piano, gospel-influenced vocals and sometimes sexually charged lyrics. Throughout his career, Little Richard would sell 30 million records.
His musical influence was immeasurable and was felt throughout the music industry by artists like Prince, James Brown, The Beatles, the Everly Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Kinks, David Bowie, Pat Boone, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and the Scorpions, some of whom recorded or covered his classic songs.
On several occasions, Penniman left secular music to return to God and the church, but he always came back to the music that fueled him and his throngs of fans. There has never been and will never be anyone like Little Richard! A wop bob alu bob a wop bam boom! Little Richard died on May 9, 2020, at the age of 87. Legends are defined by their work and how it impacts the culture. We remember Little Richard so others don’t forget.
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