{"id":807265,"date":"2020-05-09T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=48505\/"},"modified":"2020-05-09T07:30:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T13:30:00","slug":"little-richard-founding-father-of-rock-who-broke-musical-barriers-dead-at-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/little-richard-founding-father-of-rock-who-broke-musical-barriers-dead-at-87\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Richard, Founding Father of Rock Who Broke Musical Barriers, Dead at 87"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/rs-239428-little-richard.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/little-richard\/\" id=\"auto-tag_little-richard\" data-tag=\"little-richard\">Little Richard<\/a>, a founding father of rock and roll whose fervent shrieks, flamboyant garb, and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form, died Saturday. He was 87. The musician\u2019s son, Danny Penniman, confirmed the pioneer\u2019s death to <em>Rolling Stone,&nbsp;<\/em>but said the cause of death was unknown.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Starting with \u201cTutti Frutti\u201d in 1956, Little Richard cut a series of unstoppable hits \u2013 \u201cLong Tall Sally\u201d and \u201cRip It Up\u201d that same year, \u201cLucille\u201d in 1957, and \u201cGood Golly Miss Molly\u201d in 1958 \u2013 driven by his simple, pumping piano, gospel-influenced vocal exclamations and sexually charged (often gibberish) lyrics. \u201cI heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it,\u201d Elton John told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> in 1973. \u201cI didn\u2019t ever want to be anything else. I\u2019m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LVIttmFAzek?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Although he never hit the top 10 again after 1958, Little Richard\u2019s influence was massive. The Beatles recorded several of his songs, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=w-iA9-D_Mbw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">\u201cLong Tall Sally,\u201d<\/a> and Paul McCartney\u2019s singing on those tracks \u2013 and the Beatles\u2019 own \u201cI\u2019m Down\u201d \u2013 paid tribute to Little Richard\u2019s shredded-throat style. His songs became part of the rock and roll canon, covered over the decades by everyone from the Everly Brothers, the Kinks, and Creedence Clearwater Revival to Elvis Costello and the Scorpions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Little Richard\u2019s stage persona \u2013 his pompadours, androgynous makeup and glass-bead shirts \u2013 also set the standard for rock and roll showmanship; Prince, to cite one obvious example, owed a sizable debt to the musician. \u201cPrince is the Little Richard of his generation,\u201d Richard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0q0w_sDZt7w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">told Joan Rivers in 1989<\/a> before looking at the camera and addressing Prince. \u201cI was wearing purple before you was wearing it!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Born Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5th, 1932, in Macon, Georgia, he was one of 12 children and grew up around uncles who were preachers. \u201cI was born in the slums. My daddy sold whiskey, bootleg whiskey,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/little-richard-child-of-god-2-177027\/\">told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> in 1970<\/a>. Although he sang in a nearby church, his father Bud wasn\u2019t supportive of his son\u2019s music and accused him of being gay, resulting in Penniman leaving home at 13 and moving in with a white family in Macon. But music stayed with him: One of his boyhood friends was Otis Redding, and Penniman heard R&amp;B, blues and country while working at a concession stand at the Macon City Auditorium.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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 \u201cLittle Richard\u201d when he about 15 years old, when the R&amp;B and blues worlds were filled with acts like Little Esther and Little Milton; he had also grown tired with people mispronouncing his last name as \u201cPenny-man.\u201d) He learned his distinctive piano style from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jjJ6okMLGDs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Esquerita<\/a>, a South Carolina singer and pianist who also wore his hair in a high black pompadour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u0Ujb6lJ_mM?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For the next five years, Little Richard\u2019s career advanced only fitfully; fairly tame, conventional singles he cut for RCA and other labels didn\u2019t chart. \u201cWhen I first came along, I never heard any rock &amp; roll,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/little-richard-i-am-the-architect-of-rock-roll-121006\/\">he told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> in 1990<\/a>. \u201cWhen I started singing [rock &amp; roll], I sang it a long time before I presented it to the public because I was afraid they wouldn\u2019t like it. I never heard nobody do it, and I was scared.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>By 1956, he was washing dishes at the Greyhound bus station in Macon (a job he had first taken a few years earlier after his father was murdered and Little Richard had to support his family). By then, only one track he\u2019d cut, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WMVtIZiP0Dc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">\u201cLittle Richard\u2019s Boogie,\u201d<\/a> hinted at the musical tornado to come. \u201cI put that little thing in it,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/little-richard-child-of-god-2-177027\/\">told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> in 1970<\/a><\/span> <span>of the way he tweaked with his gospel roots. \u201cI always did have that thing, but I didn\u2019t know what to do with the<\/span> <em><span>thing<\/span><\/em> <span>I had.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During this low point, he sent a tape with a rough version of a bawdy novelty song called \u201cTutti Frutti\u201d to Specialty Records in Chicago. He came up with the song\u2019s famed chorus \u2014 \u201ca wop bob alu bob a wop bam boom\u201d \u2014 while bored washing dishes. (He also wrote \u201cLong Tall Sally\u201d and \u201cGood Golly Miss Molly\u201d while working that same job.)&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>By coincidence, label owner and producer Art Rupe was in search of a lead singer for some tracks he wanted to cut in New Orleans, and Penniman\u2019s howling delivery fit the bill. In September 1955, the musician cut a lyrically cleaned-up version of \u201cTutti Frutti,\u201d which became his first hit, peaking at 17 on the pop chart. \u201c\u2019Tutti Frutti really started the races being together,\u201d he told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> in 1990. \u201cFrom the git-go, my music was accepted by whites.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pc_F3PaYgl0?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Its followup, \u201cLong Tall Sally,\u201d hit Number Six, becoming his the highest-placing hit of his career. For just over a year, the musician released one relentless and arresting smash after another. From \u201cLong Tall Sally\u201d to \u201cSlippin\u2019 and Slidin,\u2019\u201d Little Richard\u2019s hits \u2013 a glorious mix of boogie, gospel, and jump blues, produced by Robert \u201cBumps\u201d Blackwell \u2014 sounded like he never stood still. With his trademark pompadour and makeup (which he once said he started wearing so that he would be less \u201cthreatening\u201d while playing white clubs), he was instantly on the level of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and other early rock icons, complete with rabid fans and mobbed concerts. \u201cThat\u2019s what the kids in America were excited about,\u201d he told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> in 1970. \u201cThey don\u2019t want the falsehood \u2014 they want the truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As with Presley, Lewis and other contemporaries, Penniman also was cast in early rock and roll movies like<\/span> <em><span>Don\u2019t Knock the Rock<\/span><\/em> <span>(1956) and<\/span> <em><span>The Girl Can\u2019t Help It<\/span><\/em> <span>(1957). In a sign of how segregated the music business and radio were at the time, though, Pat Boone\u2019s milquetoast covers of \u201cTutti Frutti\u201d and \u201cLong Tall Sally,\u201d both also released in 1956, charted as well if not higher than Richard\u2019s own versions. (\u201cBoone\u2019s \u201cTutti Frutti\u201d hit Number 12, surpassing Little Richard\u2019s by nine slots.) Little Richard later told RS that he made sure to sing \u201cLong Tall Sally\u201d faster than \u201cTutti Frutti\u201d so that Boone couldn\u2019t copy him as much.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oqz6Y9aHGIQ?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But then the hits stopped, by his own choice. After what he interpreted as signs \u2013 a plane engine that seemed to be on fire and a dream about the end of the world and his own damnation \u2013 Little Richard gave up music in 1957<\/span> <span>and began attending the Alabama Bible school Oakwood College, where he was eventually ordained a minister. When he finally cut another album, in 1959, the result was a gospel set called<\/span> <em><span>God Is Real<\/span><\/em><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>His gospel music career floundering, Little Richard returned to secular rock in 1964. Although none of the albums and singles he cut over the next decade for a variety of labels sold well, he was welcomed back by a new generation of rockers like the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan (who used to play Little Richard songs on the piano when he was a kid). When Little Richard played the Star-Club in Hamburg in 1964, the opening act was none other than the Beatles. \u201cWe used to stand backstage at Hamburg\u2019s Star-Club and watch Little Richard play,\u201d John Lennon said later.<\/span><span>&nbsp;\u201cHe used to read from the Bible backstage and just to hear him talk we\u2019d sit around and listen. I still love him and he\u2019s one of the greatest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>By the 1970s, Little Richard was making a respectable living on the rock oldies circuit, immortalized in a searing, sweaty performance in the 1973 documentary<\/span> <em><span>Let the Good Times Roll<\/span><\/em><span>. During this time, he also became addicted to marijuana and cocaine while, at the same time, returning to his gospel roots.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZP3wdwRhpFs?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Little Richard also dismantled sexual stereotypes in rock &amp; roll, even if he confused many of his fans along the way.<\/span> <span>During his teen years and into his early rock stardom, his stereotypical flamboyant personality made some speculate about his sexuality, even if he never publicly announced he was out. But that flamboyance didn\u2019t derail his career.<\/span> <span>In a 1984 biography,<\/span> <em><span>The Life and Times of Little Richard<\/span><\/em><span>, written with his cooperation, he denounced homosexuality as \u201ccontagious \u2026 It\u2019s not something you\u2019re born with.\u201d (Eleven years later, he said in an interview with Penthouse that he had been \u201cgay all my life.\u201d) Later in life, he described himself as \u201comnisexual,\u201d attracted to both men and women. But during an interview with the Christian-tied Three Angels Broadcasting Group in 2017, he suddenly denounced gay and trans lifestyles: \u201cGod, Jesus, He made men, men, he made women, women, you know? And you\u2019ve got to live the way God wants you to live. So much unnatural affection. So much of people just doing everything and don\u2019t think about God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Yet none of that craziness damaged his mystique or legend. In the 1980s, he appeared in movies like<\/span> <em><span>Down and Out in Beverly Hills<\/span><\/em> <span>and in TV shows like<\/span> <em><span>Full House<\/span><\/em> <span>and<\/span> <em><span>Miami Vice<\/span><\/em><span>. In 1986, he was one of the 10 original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1993, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys. His last known recording was in 2010, when he cut a song for a tribute album to gospel singer Dottie Rambo.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the years before his death, Little Richard, who was by then based in Los Angeles, still performed periodically. Onstage, though, the physicality of old was gone: Thanks to hip replacement surgery in 2009, he could only perform sitting down at his piano. But his rock and roll spirit never left him. \u201cI\u2019m sorry I can\u2019t do it like it\u2019s supposed to be done,\u201d he told one audience in 2012. After the audience screamed back in encouragement, he said \u2013 with a very Little Richard squeal \u2014 \u201cOh, you gonna make me scream like a white girl!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/little-richard-dead-48505\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Little Richard, a founding father of rock and roll whose fervent shrieks, flamboyant garb, and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form, died Saturday. He was 87. The musician\u2019s son, Danny Penniman, confirmed the pioneer\u2019s death to Rolling Stone,&nbsp;but said the cause of death was unknown.&nbsp; Starting with \u201cTutti [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-807265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-11 15:47:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}