Little Richard

Early life

Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, on December 5, 1932, the third of twelve children of Leva Mae (née Stewart) and Charles "Bud" Penniman. His father was a church deacon and a brick mason, who sold bootlegged moonshine on the side and owned a nightclub called the Tip in Inn. His mother was a member of Macon's New Hope Baptist Church. Initially, his first name was supposed to have been "Ricardo", but an error switched it to "Richard". The Penniman children were raised in Macon's Pleasant Hill neighborhood. In childhood, he was nicknamed "Lil' Richard" by his family because of his small and skinny frame. He was a mischievous child who played pranks on neighbors. He began singing in church and taking piano lessons at a young age. Possibly as a result of complications at birth, he had a slight deformity that left one of his legs shorter than the other. This produced an unusual gait, and he was mocked for his effeminate appearance.

His family was religious and joined various A.M.E., Baptist, and Pentecostal churches, with some family members becoming ministers. He enjoyed the Pentecostal churches the most, because of their charismatic worship and live music. He later recalled that people in his neighborhood sang gospel songs throughout the day during segregation to keep a positive outlook, because "there was so much poverty, so much prejudice in those days". He had observed that people sang "to feel their connection with God" and to wash their trials and burdens away. Gifted with a loud singing voice, he recalled that he was "always changing the key upwards" and that he was once stopped from singing in church for "screaming and hollering" so loud, earning him the nickname "War Hawk". As a child, he would "beat on the steps of the house, and on tin cans and pots and pans, or whatever" while singing, which annoyed neighbors.

His initial musical influences were gospel performers such as Brother Joe May, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia Jackson, and Marion Williams. May, a singing evangelist who was known as "the Thunderbolt of the Middle West" because of his phenomenal range and vocal power, inspired Richard to become a preacher. He credited the Clara Ward Singers for one of his distinctive hollers. Richard attended Macon's Hudson High School, where he was a below-average student. He eventually learned to play alto saxophone, joining his school's marching band in fifth grade. While in high school, he got a part-time job at Macon City Auditorium for local secular and gospel concert promoter Clint Brantley. He sold Coca-Cola to crowds during concerts of star performers of the day such as Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder, and his favorite singer, Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Music career

1947–1955: Beginnings

In October 1947, Sister Rosetta Tharpe overheard the fourteen-year-old Richard singing her songs before a performance at the Macon City Auditorium. She invited him to open her show. After the show, Tharpe paid him, inspiring him to become a professional performer. In 1949, he began performing in Doctor Nubillo's traveling show. Richard was inspired to wear turbans and capes in his career by Nubillo, who also "carried a black stick and exhibited something he called 'the devil's child'—the dried-up body of a baby with claw feet like a bird and horns on its head." Nubillo told Richard he was "gonna be famous".

Before entering the tenth grade, Richard left his family home and joined Hudson's Medicine Show in 1949, performing Louis Jordan's "Caldonia". Richard recalled that the song was the first secular R&B song he learned since his family had strict rules against playing R&B music, which they considered "devil music". Other sources also indicate that Little Richard was influenced by Jordan. In fact, according to one reliable source, the whoop sound on Jordan's record "Caldonia" sounds eerily like the vocal tone Little Richard would adopt in addition to the "Jordan-style pencil-thin mustache".

Richard also performed in drag during this time, performing under the name "Princess LaVonne". In 1950, Richard joined his first musical band, Buster Brown's Orchestra, where Brown named him Little Richard. Performing in the minstrel show circuit, Richard, in and out of drag, appeared for vaudeville acts such as Sugarfoot Sam from Alabam, the Tidy Jolly Steppers, the King Brothers Circus, and the Broadway Follies. Having settled in Atlanta at this point, Richard began listening to rhythm and blues and frequented Atlanta clubs, including the Harlem Theater and the Royal Peacock, where he saw performers such as Roy Brown and Billy Wright onstage. Richard was further influenced by Brown's and Wright's flashy showmanship and even more so by Wright's flamboyant persona. Inspired by Brown and Wright, he decided to become a rhythm-and-blues singer. After befriending Wright, he began to learn how to be an entertainer from him, and began adapting a pompadour hairdo similar to Wright's, wearing flashier clothes, and using Wright's brand of pancake makeup.

Impressed by his singing voice, Wright put him in contact with Zenas Sears, a local DJ. Sears recorded Richard at his station, backed by Wright's band. The recordings led to a contract that year with RCA Victor. Richard recorded a total of eight sides for RCA Victor, including the blues ballad, "Every Hour", which became his first single and a hit in Georgia. The release of "Every Hour" improved his relationship with his father, who began regularly playing the song on his nightclub jukebox. Shortly after the release of "Every Hour", Richard was hired to front Perry Welch and His Orchestra and played at clubs and army bases for $100 a week. Richard left RCA Victor in February 1952 after his records failed to chart; the recordings were marketed with little promotion, although ads for the records showed up in Billboard.

1956–1962: Initial success and conversion

Richard's next hit single, "Long Tall Sally" (1956), hit number one on the R&B chart and number 13 on the Top 100, while reaching the top 10 in Britain. Like "Tutti Frutti", it sold more than a million copies. Following his success, Richard built up his backup band, The Upsetters, with the addition of saxophonists Clifford "Gene" Burks and leader Grady Gaines, bassist Olsie "Baysee" Robinson and guitarist Nathaniel "Buster" Douglas. Richard began performing on package tours across the United States. Art Rupe described the differences between Richard and a similar hitmaker of the early rock and roll period by stating that, while "the similarities between Little Richard and Fats Domino for recording purposes were close", Richard would sometimes stand up at the piano while he was recording, and that onstage, where Domino was "plodding, very slow", Richard was "very dynamic, completely uninhibited, unpredictable, wild. So the band took on the ambience of the vocalist." Richard's high-energy antics included lifting his leg while playing the piano, climbing on top of his piano, running on and off the stage and throwing souvenirs to the audience. He also began using capes and suits studded with multi-colored stones and sequins. Richard said he became more flamboyant onstage so no one would think he was "after the white girls".

Richard's performances, like most early rock and roll shows, resulted in integrated audience reaction during an era where public places were divided into "white" and "colored" domains. In these package tours, Richard and other artists such as Fats Domino and Chuck Berry would enable audiences of both races to enter the building, albeit still segregated (e.g. blacks on the balcony and whites on the main floor). As his later producer H. B. Barnum explained, Richard's performances enabled audiences to come together to dance. Despite broadcasts on television from local supremacist groups such as the North Alabama White Citizens Council warning that rock and roll "brings the races together", Richard's popularity was helping to shatter the myth that black performers could not successfully perform at "white-only venues" especially in the South, where racism was most overt.

Richard claims that a show at Baltimore's Royal Theatre in June 1956 led to women throwing their undergarments onstage at him, resulting in other female fans repeating the action, saying it was "the first time" that had happened to any artist. Richard's show would stop several times that night to restrain fans from jumping off the balcony and then rushing to the stage to touch him.

1962–1979: Return to secular music

In 1962, concert promoter Don Arden persuaded Little Richard to tour Europe after telling him his records were selling well there. With soul singer Sam Cooke as an opening act, Richard, who featured a teenage Billy Preston in his gospel band, figured it was a gospel tour and, after Cooke's delayed arrival forced him to cancel his show on the opening date, performed only gospel material during the show, leading to boos from the audience expecting Richard to sing his rock and roll hits. The following night, Richard viewed Cooke's well-received performance. Bringing back his competitive drive, Richard and Preston warmed up in darkness before launching into "Long Tall Sally", resulting in frenetic, hysterical responses from the audience. A show at Mansfield's Granada Theatre ended early after fans rushed the stage.

Hearing of Richard's shows, Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, asked Don Arden to allow his band to open for Richard on some tour dates, to which he agreed. The first show for which the Beatles opened was at New Brighton's Tower Ballroom that October. The following month they, along with Swedish singer Jerry Williams and his band The Violents, opened for Richard at the Star-Club in Hamburg. During this time, Richard advised the group on how to perform his songs and taught Paul McCartney his distinctive vocalizations. Back in the United States, Richard recorded six rock and roll songs with his 1950s band, the Upsetters for Little Star Records, under the name "World Famous Upsetters", hoping this would keep his options open in maintaining his position as a minister.

In the fall of 1963, Richard was called by a concert promoter to rescue a sagging tour featuring The Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley and the Rolling Stones. Richard agreed and helped to save the tour from flopping. At the end of that tour, Richard was given his own television special for Granada Television titled The Little Richard Spectacular. The special became a ratings hit and after 60,000 fan letters, was rebroadcast twice. In 1964, now openly re-embracing rock and roll, Richard released "Bama Lama Bama Loo" on Specialty Records. Due to his UK exposure, the song reached the top twenty there but only hit 82 in the U.S. Later in the year, he signed with Vee-Jay Records, then on its dying legs, to release his "comeback" album, Little Richard Is Back. Due to the arrival of the Beatles and other British bands as well as the rise of soul labels such as Motown and Stax Records and the popularity of James Brown, Richard's new releases were not well promoted or well received by radio stations. However, his first Vee Jay album made number 136 on a major chart. In November/December 1964, Jimi Hendrix joined Richard's Upsetters band as a full member.

1984–1999: Comeback

In 1984, Richard filed a $112 million lawsuit against Specialty Records, Art Rupe and his publishing company, Venice Music, and ATV Music for not paying royalties to him after he left the label in 1959. The suit was settled out of court in 1986. According to some reports, Michael Jackson allegedly gave him monetary compensation for his work, which he co-owned with Sony-ATV, songs by the Beatles and Richard. In September 1984, Charles White released the singer's authorized biography, Quasar of Rock: The Life and Times of Little Richard, which returned Richard to the spotlight. Richard returned to show business in what Rolling Stone referred to as a "formidable comeback" following the book's release.

Reconciling his roles as evangelist and rock and roller for the first time, Richard stated that the genre could be used for good or evil. After accepting a role in the film Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Richard and Billy Preston penned the faith-based rock and roll song "Great Gosh A'Mighty" for its soundtrack. Richard won critical acclaim for his film role and the song found success on the American, Canadian (#36), and British charts. The hit led to the release of the album Lifetime Friend (1986) on Warner Bros. Records, with songs deemed "messages in rhythm", including a gospel rap track. In addition to a version of "Great Gosh A'Mighty", cut in England, the album featured two singles that charted in the UK, "Somebody's Comin'" and "Operator". Richard spent much of the rest of the decade as a guest on television shows and appearing in films, winning new fans with what was referred to as his "unique comedic timing."

In 1988, he introduced a new song written by his guitarist, Travis Wammack ("King of the Swamp Guitar"), "(There's ) No Place Like Home", a slow, reflective biographical Country ballad, which fans believed would become a major Country hit. It was performed at major musical events and captured on a commercial video from Italy and released in an Australian DVD. (Seven years later, a single was pressed but withdrawn. Richard discovered it was bootlegged.) That same year, he surprised fans with a tribute to Otis Redding at his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, singing several Redding songs, including "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)", "These Arms of Mine", and "(Sittin' on the) Dock of the Bay". Richard told Redding's story and explained how his 1956 tune "All Around the World" was Redding's reference on his 1963 side, "Hey, Hey Baby". In 1989, Richard provided rhythmic preaching and background vocals on the extended live version of the U2–B.B. King hit "When Love Comes to Town". That same year, Richard returned to singing his classic hits following a performance of "Lucille" at an AIDS benefit concert.

2000–2020: Later years

In 2000, Richard's life was dramatized for the biographical film Little Richard, which focused on his early years, including his heyday, his religious conversion and his return to secular music in the early 1960s. Richard was played by Leon Robinson, who earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance. In 2002, Richard contributed to the Johnny Cash tribute album, Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash. In 2004–2005, he released two sets of unreleased and rare cuts, from the Okeh label 1966/67 and the Reprise label in 1970/72. Included was the full Southern Child album, produced and composed mostly by Richard, scheduled for release in 1972, but shelved. In 2006, Little Richard was featured in a popular GEICO advertisement.

A 2005 recording of his duet vocals with Jerry Lee Lewis on a cover of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" was included on Lewis's 2006 album, Last Man Standing. The same year, Richard was a guest judge on the TV series Celebrity Duets. Richard and Lewis performed alongside John Fogerty at the 2008 Grammy Awards in a tribute to the two artists considered to be cornerstones of rock and roll by the NARAS. That same year, Richard appeared on radio host Don Imus' benefit album for sick children, The Imus Ranch Record. In 2009, Richard was Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in a concert in New Orleans. In June 2010, Richard recorded a gospel track for an upcoming tribute album to songwriting legend Dottie Rambo.

Throughout the first decade of the new millennium, Richard kept up a vigorous touring schedule, performing primarily in the United States and Europe. However, sciatic nerve pain in his left leg and then replacement of the involved hip began affecting the frequency of his performances by 2010. Despite his health problems, Richard continued to perform to receptive audiences and critics. Rolling Stone reported that at a performance at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., in June 2012, Richard was "still full of fire, still a master showman, his voice still loaded with deep gospel and raunchy power." Richard performed a full 90-minute show at the Pensacola Interstate Fair in Pensacola, Florida, in October 2012, at age 79, and headlined at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas during Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend in March 2013. In September 2013, Rolling Stone published an interview with Richard who said that he would be retiring from performing. "I am done, in a sense, because I don't feel like doing anything right now", he told the magazine, adding, "I think my legacy should be that when I started in showbusiness there wasn't no such thing as rock'n'roll. When I started with 'Tutti Frutti', that's when rock really started rocking." Richard would perform one last concert in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 2014.

Personal life

Relationships and family

Around 1956, Richard became involved with Audrey Robinson, a sixteen-year-old college student, originally from Savannah, Georgia. Richard and Robinson quickly got acquainted even though Robinson was not a rock and roll fan. Richard said in his 1984 autobiography that he invited other men to have sexual encounters with her, including Buddy Holly. Robinson denied those statements. Robinson refused his marriage proposal. Robinson later became known under the name Lee Angel as a stripper and socialite. Richard reconnected with Robinson in the 1960s, though she left him again over his drug abuse. Robinson was interviewed for Richard's 1985 documentary on The South Bank Show and denied Richard's statements. According to Robinson, Richard would use her to buy food in white-only fast food stores that he was not allowed to enter because of his skin color.

Richard met his only wife, Ernestine Harvin, at an evangelical rally in October 1957. They began dating that year and wed on July 12, 1959, in Santa Barbara, California. According to Harvin, she and Richard initially enjoyed a happy marriage with normal sexual relations. When the marriage ended in divorce in April 1964, Harvin said it was due to her husband's celebrity status, which had made life difficult for her. Richard said the marriage fell apart over his neglect and because of his sexuality. Both Robinson and Harvin denied Richard's statements that he was gay, and Richard believed they did not know because he was "such a pumper in those days". During the marriage, Richard and Harvin adopted a one-year-old boy, Danny Jones, from a late church associate. Richard and his son remained close, with Jones often acting as one of his bodyguards.

Sexuality

In 1984, Richard said that he just played with girls as a child and was subjected to homosexual jokes and ridicule because of his manner of walking and talking. His father brutally punished him whenever he caught him wearing his mother's makeup and clothing. The singer said he had been sexually involved with both sexes as a teenager. Because of his effeminate mannerisms, his father kicked him out of their family home when he was fifteen. In 1985, on The South Bank Show, Richard explained, "my daddy put me out of the house. He said he wanted seven boys, and I had spoiled it, because I was gay."

Richard got involved in voyeurism in his early twenties. A female friend would drive him around picking up men who would allow him to watch them having sex in the backseat of cars. Richard's activity caught the attention of Macon police in 1955 and he was arrested when caught in the act. Cited on a sexual misconduct charge, he spent three days in jail and was temporarily banned from performing in Macon.

In the early 1950s, Richard became acquainted with openly gay musician Billy Wright, who helped in establishing Richard's look, advising him to use pancake makeup and wear his hair in a long-haired pompadour style similar to his. As Richard got used to the makeup, he ordered his band, the Upsetters, to wear makeup too, to gain entry into predominantly white venues. He later stated, "I wore the make-up so that white men wouldn't think I was after the white girls. It made things easier for me, plus it was colorful too." In 2000, Richard told Jet magazine, "I figure if being called a sissy would make me famous, let them say what they want to." Richard's look, however, still attracted female audiences, who would send him naked photos and their phone numbers.

During Richard's heyday, his obsession with voyeurism and group sex continued, with Robinson's participation. Richard wrote that Robinson would have sex with men while she sexually stimulated Richard. Despite saying he was "born again" after leaving rock and roll for the church in 1957, Richard left Oakwood College after exposing himself to a male student. The incident was reported to the student's father, and Richard withdrew from the college. In 1962, Richard was arrested for spying on men urinating in toilets at a Trailways bus station in Long Beach, California.

On May 4, 1982, on Late Night with David Letterman, Richard said, "God gave me the victory. I'm not gay now, but, you know, I was gay all my life. I believe I was one of the first gay people to come out. But God let me know that he made Adam be with Eve, not Steve. So, I gave my heart to Christ." In his 1984 book, while demeaning homosexuality as "unnatural" and "contagious", he told Charles White he was "omnisexual".

Drug use

During his initial heyday in the 1950s rock and roll scene, Richard was a teetotaler abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Richard often fined bandmates for using alcohol and other drugs during this era. By the mid-1960s, however, Richard began drinking heavily and smoking tobacco and marijuana. By 1972, he had developed an addiction to cocaine. He later lamented that period, "They should have called me Lil Cocaine, I was sniffing so much of that stuff!" By 1975, he had developed addictions to both heroin and PCP, otherwise known as "angel dust". His use of alcohol and other drugs began to affect his career and personal life. "I lost my reasoning", he later recalled.

Of his cocaine addiction, he said that he did whatever he could to use cocaine. Richard admitted that his addictions to cocaine, PCP, and heroin were costing him as much as $1,000 a day. In 1977, longtime friend Larry Williams showed up with a gun and threatened to kill him for failing to pay his drug debt. Richard said that this was the most fearful moment of his life; Williams' own drug addiction made him wildly unpredictable. Richard acknowledged that he and Williams were "very close friends" and when reminiscing of the drug-fueled clash, he recalled thinking "I knew he loved me—I hoped he did!" Within that same year, Richard had several devastating personal experiences, including his brother Tony's death of a heart attack, the accidental shooting of his nephew whom he loved like a son, and the murder of two close personal friends – one a valet at "the heroin man's house." These experiences convinced the singer to give up alcohol and other drugs, along with rock and roll, and return to the ministry.

Religion

Richard's family had deep evangelical (Baptist and African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)) Christian roots, including two uncles and a grandfather who were preachers. He also took part in Macon's Pentecostal churches, which were his favorites mainly due to their music, charismatic praise, dancing in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. At age ten, influenced by Pentecostalism, he went around saying he was a faith healer, singing gospel music to people who were feeling sick and touching them. He later recalled that they would often indicate that they felt better after he prayed for them and would sometimes give him money. Richard had aspirations to become a preacher due to the influence of singing evangelist Brother Joe May.

After he was born again in 1957, Richard enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, a mostly black Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) college, to study theology. He became a vegetarian, which coincided with his return to religion. He was ordained a minister in 1970 and resumed evangelical activities in 1977. Richard represented Memorial Bibles International and sold their Black Heritage Bible, which highlighted the Book's many black characters. As a preacher, he evangelized in small churches and packed auditoriums of 20,000 or more. His preaching focused on uniting the races and bringing lost souls to repentance through God's love. In 1984, Richard's mother, Leva Mae, died following a period of illness. Prior to her death, Richard promised her that he would remain a Christian.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Richard officiated at celebrity weddings. In 2006, in one ceremony, Richard wedded twenty couples who won a contest. The musician used his experience and knowledge as a minister and elder statesman of rock and roll to preach at funerals of musical friends such as Wilson Pickett and Ike Turner. At a benefit concert in 2009 to raise funds to help rebuild children's playgrounds that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Richard asked guest of honor Fats Domino to pray with him and others. His assistants handed out inspirational booklets at the concert, a common practice at Richard's shows. Richard told a Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C., audience in June 2012, "I know this is not Church, but get close to the Lord. The world is getting close to the end. Get close to the Lord." In 2013, Richard elaborated on his spiritual philosophies, stating "God talked to me the other night. He said He's getting ready to come. The world's getting ready to end and He's coming, wrapped in flames of fire with a rainbow around his throne." Rolling Stone reported that his apocalyptic prophesies generated snickers from some audience members as well as cheers of support. Richard responded to the laughter by stating: "When I talk to you about [Jesus], I'm not playing. I'm almost 81 years old. Without God, I wouldn't be here."

Health problems and death

In October 1985, having finished Lifetime Friend, Richard returned from England to film a guest spot on the show Miami Vice. Following the taping, he reportedly fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his Nissan 300ZX into a telephone pole in West Hollywood, California. He suffered a broken right leg, broken ribs and head and facial injuries. His recovery took several months, preventing him from attending the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in January 1986 where he was one of several inductees. He instead supplied a recorded message.

In 2007, Richard began having problems walking due to sciatica in his left leg, requiring him to use crutches. In November 2009, he entered a hospital to have replacement surgery on his left hip. Despite returning to performing the following year, Richard's problems with his hip continued and he was brought onstage in a wheelchair, able to play only while seated. On September 30, 2013, he revealed to CeeLo Green at a Recording Academy fundraiser that he had suffered a heart attack the week before. Taking aspirin and having his son turn on the air conditioner saved his life according to his doctor. Richard stated, "Jesus had something for me. He brought me through."

On April 28, 2016, Richard's friend Bootsy Collins stated on his Facebook page that, "he is not in the best of health so I ask all the Funkateers to lift him up." Reports stated that Richard was in grave health and that his family were gathering at his bedside. On May 3, 2016, Rolling Stone provided a health update by Richard and his lawyer; Richard stated, "not only is my family not gathering around me because I'm ill, but I'm still singing. I don't perform like I used to, but I have my singing voice, I walk around, I had hip surgery a while ago but I'm healthy." His lawyer said, "He's 83. I don't know how many 83-year-olds still get up and rock it out every week, but in light of the rumors, I wanted to tell you that he's vivacious and conversant about a ton of different things and he's still very active in a daily routine." Though Richard continued to sing in his eighties, he kept away from the stage.

On May 9, 2020, after a two-month illness, Richard died at the age of 87 at his home in Tullahoma, Tennessee, from bone cancer. His brother, sister, and son were with him. Richard received tributes from popular musicians, including Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, John Fogerty, Elton John, and Lenny Kravitz. He is interred at Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama.

Legacy

Music

Richard's music and performance style had a pivotal effect on the sound and style of popular 20th century music genres. Richard embodied the rock and roll spirit more flamboyantly than any other performer. Richard's raspy shouting style gave the genre one of its most identifiable and influential vocal sounds and his fusion of boogie-woogie, New Orleans R&B and gospel music blazed its rhythmic trail. Richard's emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music drove the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk. He influenced singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations. Richard introduced several of rock music's most characteristic musical features, including its high volume, vocal style emphasizing power, its distinctive beat, and innovative visceral rhythms. He departed from boogie-woogie's shuffle rhythm and introduced a distinctive rock beat, where the beat division is even at all tempos. He reinforced this rhythm with a two-handed piano style, playing patterns with his right hand, with the rhythm typically popping out in the piano's high register. His rhythm pattern, which he introduced with "Tutti Frutti" (1955), became the basis for the standard rock beat, which was later consolidated by Chuck Berry. "Lucille" (1957) foreshadowed the rhythmic feel of 1960s classic rock in several ways, including its heavy bassline, slower tempo, strong rock beat played by the entire band, and verse–chorus form similar to the blues.

Richard's voice was able to generate croons, wails, and screams unprecedented in popular music. He was cited by two of soul music's pioneers, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, as contributing to the genre's early development. Redding stated that most of his music was patterned after Richard's, referring to his 1953 recording "Directly From My Heart To You" as the personification of soul, and that he had "done a lot for [him] and [his] soul brothers in the music business." Cooke said in 1962 that Richard had done "so much for our music". Cooke had a top 40 hit in 1963 with his cover of Richard's 1956 hit "Send Me Some Loving".

James Brown and others credited Richard and his mid-1950s backing band, The Upsetters, as the first to put funk in the rock beat.

Richard's hits of the mid-1950s, such as "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally", "Keep A-Knockin'" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly", were generally characterized by playful lyrics with sexually suggestive connotations. AllMusic writer Richie Unterberger stated that Little Richard "merged the fire of gospel with New Orleans R&B, pounding the piano and wailing with gleeful abandon", and that while "other R&B greats of the early 1950s had been moving in a similar direction, none of them matched the sheer electricity of Richard's vocals. With his high-speed deliveries, ecstatic trills, and the overjoyed force of personality in his singing, he was crucial in upping the voltage from high-powered R&B into the similar, yet different, guise of rock and roll."

Society

In addition to his musical style, Richard was cited as one of the first black crossover artists, reaching audiences of all races. His music and concerts broke the color line, drawing mixed black and white audiences. As H.B. Barnum explained in Quasar of Rock, Little Richard "opened the door. He brought the races together." Barnum described Richard's music as not being "boy-meets-girl-girl-meets-boy things, they were fun records, all fun. And they had a lot to say sociologically in our country and the world." Barnum also stated that Richard's "charisma was a whole new thing to the music business", explaining that "he would burst onto the stage from anywhere, and you wouldn't be able to hear anything but the roar of the audience. He might come out and walk on the piano. He might go out into the audience." Barnum stated that Richard was innovative in that he would wear colorful capes, blouse shirts, makeup and suits studded with multi-colored stones and sequins, and that he also brought flickering stage lighting from his show business experience into performance venues where rock and roll artists performed. In 2015, the National Museum of African American Music honored Richard for helping to shatter the color line on the music charts changing American culture forever.

Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister of the hard rock band Motörhead spoke highly of him, stating: "Little Richard was always my main man. How hard must it have been for him: gay, black and singing in the South? But his records are a joyous good time from beginning to end."

Influence

Richard influenced generations of performers. Quincy Jones stated that Richard was "an innovator whose influence spans America's musical diaspora from Gospel, the Blues & R&B, to Rock & Roll, & Hip-Hop." James Brown and Otis Redding both idolized him. Brown allegedly came up with the Famous Flames debut hit, "Please, Please, Please", after Richard had written the words on a napkin. Redding started his professional career with Richard's band, The Upsetters. and first entered a talent show performing Richard's "Heeby Jeebies", winning for fifteen consecutive weeks. Ike Turner claimed most of Tina Turner's early vocal delivery was based on Richard, something Richard reiterated in the introduction of Turner's autobiography, Takin' Back My Name. Richard influenced Ritchie Valens; before he broke out, Valens was known as the "Little Richard of San Fernando". Bob Dylan performed covers of Richard's songs in high school with his rock and roll group, the Golden Chords; in his high school yearbook, under "Ambition", he wrote: "to join Little Richard".

The Beatles were heavily influenced by Richard. Paul McCartney idolized him in school and later used his recordings as inspiration for his uptempo rockers, such as "I'm Down". "Long Tall Sally" was the first song McCartney performed in public. McCartney later stated, "I could do Little Richard's voice, which is a wild, hoarse, screaming thing. It's like an out-of-body experience. You have to leave your current sensibilities and go about a foot above your head to sing it." John Lennon recalled that upon hearing "Long Tall Sally" in 1956, he was so impressed that he "couldn't speak". During the Beatles' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, George Harrison commented, "thank you all very much, especially the rock 'n' rollers, an' Little Richard there, if it wasn't for [gesturing to Little Richard], it was all his fault, really." Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones were also profoundly influenced by him, with Jagger citing him as his introduction to R&B and calling him "the originator and my first idol". Richard was the first rock n roll influence on Rod Stewart and Peter Wolf. Others influenced by Richard early on included Bob Seger and John Fogerty. Michael Jackson admitted that Richard had been a huge influence on him prior to the release of Off the Wall. Jimi Hendrix was influenced in appearance and sound by Richard. He was quoted in 1966 saying, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."

Hard rock and heavy metal bands have cited Richard as an influence. John Kay of Steppenwolf recalls hearing "Tutti Frutti" on a U.S. Armed Forces station in East Prussia in the mid-1950s: "it was unlike anything I ever heard before and it was instant 'chicken skin time' - I mean goosebumps from head to toe. From that time on my focus was to hear as much of that stuff as possible, and after a while it became a kind of adolescent dream that someday [I] would be on the other side of the ocean, would learn how to speak English, and this music is something that I would play." Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin recalls: "I was a 13-year-old boy in Kidderminster when I heard Little Richard for the first time. My parents shielded me from anything that was worldly. I spent my time searching feverishly through my stamp collection or working on my Meccano, and then someone played me 'Good Golly, Miss Molly'. The sound! It was fantastic, indescribable." Jon Lord of Deep Purple said "There would have been no Deep Purple if there had been no Little Richard." AC/DC's early lead vocalist and co-songwriter Bon Scott idolized Richard and aspired to sing like him, its lead guitarist and co-songwriter Angus Young was first inspired to play guitar after listening to Richard, and rhythm guitarist and co-writer Malcolm Young derived his signature sound from playing his guitar like Richard's piano. Motörhead was heavily influenced by Richard; Lemmy Kilmister said Richard should be "Golden God".

Honors

In the early 1990s, a portion of Mercer University Drive in Macon was renamed "Little Richard Penniman Boulevard". Just south of the renamed boulevard sits Little Richard Penniman Park.

In 2007, a panel of renowned recording artists voted "Tutti Frutti" number one on Mojo's The Top 100 Records That Changed The World, hailing the recording as "the sound of the birth of rock and roll". In April 2012, Rolling Stone magazine declared that the song "still has the most inspired rock lyric on record". The same recording was inducted to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2010, with the library claiming the "unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music".

In 2010, Time magazine listed Here's Little Richard as one of the 100 Greatest and Most Influential Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone listed his Here's Little Richard at number fifty on the magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. He was ranked eighth on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone listed three of Richard's recordings, "The Girl Can't Help It", "Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti Frutti", on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Two of the latter songs and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" were listed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

A 2010 UK issue of GQ named Richard its Man of the Year in its Legend category.

Richard appeared in person to receive an honorary degree from Mercer University in 2013. The day before the award ceremony, the mayor of Macon announced that one of Richard's childhood homes, an historic site, would be moved to a rejuvenated section of Pleasant Hill to be restored and named the Little Richard Penniman—Pleasant Hill Resource House. It would serve as a meeting place full of local history and artifacts.

On March 14, 2021, Bruno Mars with Anderson .Paak honored Richard at the 2021 Grammy Award ceremony. The performance was reported in the media to be the highlight of the show.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Little Richard at No. 11 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Awards

Although Richard never won a competitive Grammy, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. His album Here's Little Richard and three of his songs ("Tutti Frutti", "Lucille" and "Long Tall Sally") are inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Richard received various awards for his key role in the formation of popular music genres.

1956: He received the Cashbox Triple Crown Award for "Long Tall Sally" in 1956.

1984: He was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

1986: He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the initial class of inductees chosen for that honor.

1990: He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1994: He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

1997: He received the American Music Award of Merit.

2002: Along with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, he was honored as one of the first group of BMI icons at the 50th Annual BMI Pop Awards.

2002: He was inducted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame.

2003: He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

2006: He was inducted into the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame.

2008: He received a star on Nashville's Music City Walk of Fame.

2009: He was inducted to the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

In popular culture

In 1991, Richard served as the inspiration for the professional wrestling gimmick Johnny B. Badd. Active in WCW, the gimmick was conceived by booker Dusty Rhodes and portrayed by wrestler Marc Mero. The character was initially a villain but became beloved by the fans, leading him to become a good guy where he remained a fan favourite in WCW until Mero's departure from the promotion in 1996. Mero would revive the Johnny B. Badd. character while working for the XWF and TNA Wrestling between 2001 and 2005.

In 2000, Leon Robinson portrayed Little Richard in the NBC television biopic Little Richard.

In 2003, Little Richard voiced a fictionalized version of himself in the Simpsons episode "Special Edna"; he portrayed a presenter for the Teacher of the Year awards ceremony in Orlando, Florida, and remarks that he is also a teacher because he "taught Paul McCartney to go 'woo!'"

In 2014, actor Brandon Mychal Smith received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Richard in the James Brown biographical drama film Get on Up. Mick Jagger co-produced.

During season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race, contestant Kennedy Davenport portrayed Richard during the Snatch Game episode, making him the first male character ever impersonated for the challenge.

In 2022, Alton Mason portrayed Little Richard in the movie biopic Elvis.

Discography

Main albums