Short answers, pulled from the story.
Little Richard, born Richard Wayne Penniman on the 5th of December 1932 in Macon, Georgia, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist called the Architect of Rock and Roll. His frenetic piano, pounding backbeat, and raspy vocals laid the foundation for rock and roll and shaped soul and funk.
Tutti Frutti, recorded in three takes in September 1955 and released that November, was Little Richard's breakthrough hit. It reached No. 2 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart, crossed to the pop charts in the United States and United Kingdom, and sold a million copies.
During an Australian tour in October 1957, Little Richard saw a bright red fireball, later identified as the satellite Sputnik 1, and took it as a sign from God. He learned his original return flight had crashed, enrolled at Oakwood College to study theology, and turned to gospel and ministry.
Yes, the Beatles opened for Little Richard on some 1962 tour dates after manager Brian Epstein asked promoter Don Arden to arrange it. Their first such show was at New Brighton's Tower Ballroom that October, and Richard taught Paul McCartney his distinctive vocalizations.
Little Richard was one of the first black crossover artists, reaching audiences of all races. His concerts drew mixed black and white crowds during segregation, helping shatter the idea that black performers could not succeed at white-only venues, especially in the South.
Little Richard died on the 9th of May 2020 at age 87 at his home in Tullahoma, Tennessee, from bone cancer, after a two-month illness. His brother, sister, and son were with him, and he is interred at Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama.