Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman was born on the 5th of December 1932 in Macon, Georgia. He grew up as the third child among twelve siblings in a household where his father worked as a brick mason and sold moonshine at night. His mother belonged to the New Hope Baptist Church, but Richard found himself drawn most strongly to Pentecostal services. These gatherings featured live music, dancing in the Holy Spirit, and speaking in tongues that captivated him from an early age. Neighbors often heard him singing gospel songs throughout the day while playing pranks on others. He earned the nickname War Hawk after screaming so loudly during church that he was stopped from singing again. A slight deformity left one leg shorter than the other, giving him an unusual gait that led to mockery for his effeminate appearance. Despite these challenges, he began taking piano lessons and playing on tin cans and pots and pans around his home.
In September 1955, Richard recorded Tutti Frutti at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in New Orleans. The session included drummer Earl Palmer and saxophonist Lee Allen who had played with Fats Domino. Producer Robert Blackwell hired songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie to replace some of Richard's sexual lyrics with less controversial ones. The song reached number two on Billboard magazine's Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart and crossed over to pop charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It eventually sold a million copies and became an instant hit. His next single Long Tall Sally hit number one on the R&B chart and number thirteen on the Top 100 in 1956. Like Tutti Frutti it also sold more than a million copies. Richard built up his backup band The Upsetters with saxophonists Clifford Gene Burks and leader Grady Gaines. Bassist Olsie Baysee Robinson and guitarist Nathaniel Buster Douglas joined them as well. He performed high-energy antics including lifting his leg while playing the piano and climbing on top of his piano.
After achieving success as a recording artist and live performer Richard moved into a wealthy formerly-predominantly-white neighborhood near black celebrities like boxer Joe Louis. In October 1957 he embarked on a package tour in Australia with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. During this tour he shocked the public by announcing he was following a life in the ministry. On a flight from Melbourne to Sydney he claimed to see angels holding up the plane's red-hot engines. At the end of his Sydney performance he saw what he believed was a bright red fireball flying across the sky above him. Though later told it was Sputnik 1 he took it as a sign from God to stop performing secular music. Returning to the States ten days earlier than expected he read news of his original flight having crashed into the Pacific Ocean. He enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville Alabama to study theology but left after exposing himself to a male student. In 1958 he formed the Little Richard Evangelistic Team traveling across the country to preach.
Richard's performances enabled audiences to come together to dance despite segregation laws that divided public places into white and colored domains. His shows resulted in integrated audience reaction during an era where such mixing was rare. 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. Richard's popularity helped shatter the myth that black performers could not successfully perform at white-only venues especially in the South. Concert promoter Don Arden persuaded him to tour Europe in 1962 after telling him his records were selling well there. The Beatles opened for Richard on some tour dates including New Brighton's Tower Ballroom that October. They also opened for him at the Star-Club in Hamburg the following month along with Swedish singer Jerry Williams and his band The Violents. During this time Richard advised the group on how to perform his songs and taught Paul McCartney his distinctive vocalizations.
Ray Charles introduced Richard at a concert in 1988 as a man that started a kind of music that set the pace for a lot of what is happening today. James Brown and Otis Redding both idolized him and credited Richard with contributing to soul music's early development. 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. John Lennon recalled that upon hearing Long Tall Sally in 1956 he was so impressed that he couldn't speak. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones were profoundly influenced by him with Jagger citing him as his introduction to R&B. Jimi Hendrix was influenced in appearance and sound by Richard stating I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with my voice. Hard rock and heavy metal bands have cited Richard as an influence including Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin who heard Good Golly Miss Molly for the first time as a thirteen-year-old boy in Kidderminster.
In 1955 Richard was arrested when caught in the act of voyeurism spending three days in jail and temporarily banned from performing in Macon. He became acquainted with openly gay musician Billy Wright who helped establish Richard's look advising him to use pancake makeup and wear his hair in a long-haired pompadour style similar to his. By 1972 he had developed an addiction to cocaine sniffing so much of it that he later said they should have called him Lil Cocaine. By 1975 he had developed addictions to both heroin and PCP otherwise known as angel dust. His drug and alcohol use began to affect his career and personal life costing him as much as $1,000 a day. In 1977 longtime friend Larry Williams once showed up with a gun and threatened to kill him for failing to pay his drug debt. These experiences convinced the singer to give up drugs and alcohol along with rock and roll and return to the ministry.
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. He 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. Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He received Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Recording Academy and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2015 he received a Rhapsody & Rhythm Award from the National Museum of African American Music. Tutti Frutti was included in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2009 which stated that his unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music.
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Common questions
When and where was Richard Wayne Penniman born?
Richard Wayne Penniman was born on the 5th of December 1932 in Macon, Georgia. He grew up as the third child among twelve siblings in a household where his father worked as a brick mason.
What happened during Little Richard's October 1957 Australia tour that changed his career path?
Little Richard announced he was following a life in the ministry after claiming to see angels holding up the plane's engines and a bright red fireball flying across the sky above him at his Sydney performance. He returned to the States ten days earlier than expected and enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville Alabama to study theology before leaving after exposing himself to a male student.
How did Little Richard influence The Beatles and other rock bands?
The Beatles opened for Little Richard on some tour dates including New Brighton's Tower Ballroom and the Star-Club in Hamburg while Paul McCartney learned his distinctive vocalizations from him. Jimi Hendrix cited Little Richard as an influence on appearance and sound stating I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with my voice.
Why did Little Richard stop performing secular music and return to the ministry?
Little Richard stopped performing secular music after experiencing drug addictions to cocaine heroin and PCP that cost him as much as $1,000 a day. These experiences along with a threat from longtime friend Larry Williams convinced the singer to give up drugs and alcohol along with rock and roll to return to the ministry.
When and how did Little Richard die and where is he interred?
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. He is interred at Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Huntsville Alabama.