LITTLE RICHARD
Little Richard –Richard Wayne Penniman
(December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020)
Singer, Songwriter, Musican, Pianist, Saxaphonist, Minister, Humanatarian
“The Innovator”, “The Originator”, and “The Architect of Rock and Roll”.
He was one of the first crossover black artists selling over 30 million records and multiplatinum singles influencing muti artist and bands. He reached audiences of all races. His music and concerts broke the color line,drawing blacks and whites together despite attempts to sustain segregation. His vocal style generate was croons, wails, and screams unprecedented in popular music.
Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, on December 5, 1932,he was the third of 12 children of Leva Mae 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. The Penniman children were raised in a neighborhood of Macon called Pleasant Hill.In childhood, he was nicknamed “Lil’ Richard” by his family because of his small and body frame.
As a solo artist he had the passion and vision which led Penniman to produce seven singles in the United States alone in 1956, with five of them also charting in the UK, including “Slippin’ and Sliding”, “Rip It Up”, “Ready Teddy”, “The Girl Can’t Help It” and “Lucille”. Immediately after releasing “Tutti Frutti”, which was then protocol for the industry, “safer” white recording artists such as Pat Boone re-recorded the song, sending the song to the top twenty of the charts, several positions higher than Penniman’s. His fellow rock and roll peers Elvis Presley and Bill Haley also recorded Penniman’s songs later that same year. A rapid succession of 15 more hit singles in less than three years. Penniman is cited as one of the first crossover black artists, reaching audiences of all races. Penniman had scored a total of nine top 40 pop singles and seventeen top 40 R&B singles.
His music and concerts broke the color line, drawing blacks and whites together despite attempts to sustain segregation. His contemporaries, including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, all recorded covers of his works. Taken by his music and style, and personally covering four of Penniman’s songs on his own two breakthrough albums in 1956, Elvis Presley told Penniman in 1969 that his music was an inspiration to him and that he was “the greatest”. Bo Diddley called Penniman “one of a kind” and “a show business genius” that “influenced so many in the music business”.
Pat Boone noted in 1984, “no one person has been more imitated than Little Richard”. As they wrote about him for their Man of the Year – Legend category in 2010, GQ magazine stated that Little Richard “is, without question, the boldest and most influential of the founding fathers of rock’n’roll”. R&B pioneer Johnny Otis stated that “Little Richard is twice as valid artistically and important historically as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones put together.”
Penniman influenced generations of performers across musical genres. James Brown and Otis Redding both idolized him. James Brown allegedly came up with the Famous Flames debut hit, “Please, Please, Please”, after Richard had written the words on a napkin. Otis Redding started his professional career with Little Richard’s band, The Upsetters. Jimi Hendrix was influenced in appearance (clothing and hairstyle/mustache) and sound by Penniman. He was quoted in 1966 saying, “I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice.” Others influenced by Penniman early on in their lives included Bob Seger and John Fogerty, Cliff Richards. Michael Jackson admitted that Penniman had been a huge influence on him prior to the release of Off the Wall. Rock critics noted similarities between Prince’s androgynous look, music and vocal style and Little Richard’s. Several members of the Beatles were heavily influenced by Penniman, including Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
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 would later state, “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.” During the Beatles’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, 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.” Upon hearing “Long Tall Sally” in 1956, John Lennon later commented that he was so impressed that he “couldn’t speak”. Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were also profoundly influenced by Little Richard, with Jagger citing him as his introduction to R&B music and referring to him as “the originator and my first idol”. Penniman was an early vocal influence on Rod Stewart. David Bowie called Little Richard his “inspiration” stating upon listening to “Tutti Frutti” that he “heard God”.
In 1984, Penniman 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 when he co-owned (with Sony-ATV) songs by the Beatles and Penniman, however, according to Penniman himself, while Jackson “owned the Specialty stuff”, he still did not get paid for it, though he admitted Jackson had offered him a job with his publishing company as a writer, Penniman refused Jackson’s offer.
In 1985, Charles White released the singer’s authorized biography, Quasar of Rock: The Life and Times of Little Richard, which returned Penniman to the spotlight. Penniman returned to show business in what Rolling Stone would refer to as a “formidable comeback” following the book’s release.
Reconciling his roles as evangelist and rock and roll musician for the first time, Penniman stated that the genre could be used for good or evil.
In films by accepting a role in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Penniman and Billy Preston penned the faith-based rock and roll song “Great Gosh A’Mighty” for its soundtrack. Penniman won critical acclaim for his film role, and the song found success on the American 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”. Penniman 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 1989, Penniman 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, Penniman returned to singing his classic hits following a performance of “Lucille” at an AIDS benefit concert.
In 1990, Penniman contributed a spoken-word rap on Living Colour’s hit song, “Elvis Is Dead”, from their album Time’s Up. That same year he appeared in a cameo for the music video of Cinderella’s “Shelter Me”. The following year, he was one of the featured performers on the hit single and video “Voices That Care” that was produced to help boost the morale of U.S. troops involved in Operation Desert Storm. He also recorded a rock and roll version of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” that year that led to a deal with Disney Records, resulting in the release of a hit 1992 children’s album, Shake It All About.
In 1994, Penniman sang the theme song to the award-winning PBS Kids and TLC animated television series The Magic School Bus, which was based on the book series created by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen and published by Scholastic Corporation. He also opened Wrestlemania X from Madison Square Garden on March 20 that year miming to his reworked rendition of “America the Beautiful”.
Throughout the 1990s, Penniman performed around the world and appeared on TV, film, and tracks with other artists, including Jon Bon Jovi, Elton John and Solomon Burke. In 1992 he released his final album, Little Richard Meets Masayoshi Takanaka featuring members of Richard’s then current touring band.
In 2000, Penniman’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. Penniman was played by Leon, who earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance in this role. In 2002, Penniman 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 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 advertisement for the GEICO brand. 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, Penniman was a guest judge on the TV series Celebrity Duets. Penniman 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 NARS. That same year, Penniman appeared on radio host Don Imus’ benefit album for sick children, The Imus Ranch Record.] In June 2010, Penniman recorded a gospel track for an upcoming tribute album to songwriting legend Dottie Rambo. In 2009, Penniman was Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in a concert in New Orleans, attended by Fats Domino.
Throughout the first decade of the new millennium, Penniman kept up a stringent 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, Penniman 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, Penniman was “still full of fire, still a master showman, his voice still loaded with deep gospel and raunchy power.” Penniman performed a full 90-minute show at the Pensacola Interstate Fair in Pensacola, Florida, in October 2012, at the age of 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 Penniman who admitted 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 in the magazine adding, “I think my legacy should be that when I started in show business there wasn’t no such thing as rock’n’roll. When I started with ‘Tutti Frutti’, that’s when rock really started rocking.”
In 2014, actor Brandon Mychal Smith received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Penniman in the James Brown biographical drama film Get on Up. Mick Jager co-produced the motion picture. In June 2015, Penniman appeared before a benefit concert audience, clad in sparkly boots and a brightly colored jacket at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville to receive the Rhapsody & Rhythm Award from and raise funds for the National Museum of African American Music. It was reported that he charmed the crowd by reminiscing about his early days working in Nashville nightclubs. In May 2016, the National Museum of African American Music issued a press release indicating that Penniman was one of the key artists and music industry leaders that attended its 3rd annual Celebration of Legends Luncheon in Nashville honoring Shirley Caesar, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff with Rhapsody & Rhythm Awards.In 2016, a new CD was released on Hitman Records, California (I’m Comin’) with released and previously unreleased material from the 1970s, including an a cappella version of his 1975 single release, “Try To Help Your Brother”. On September 6, 2017, Penniman participated in a long television interview, for the Christian Three Angels Broadcasting Network, clean-shaven and without make-up and dressed in a blue paisley coat and tie, in a wheelchair and proceeded to discuss his lifelong Christian faith.
On October 23, 2019, Penniman addressed the audience after appearing to receive the Distinguished Artist Award at the 2019 Tennessee Governor’s Arts Awards at the Governor’s Residence in Nashville, Tennessee
In marriage in 1956, Penniman became involved with Audrey Robinson, a 16-year-old college student originally from Savannah, Georgia
Penniman 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 California. The marriage ended in divorce in 1964, Harvin said it was due to her husband’s celebrity status, which had made life difficult for her. Penniman said the marriage fell apart due to his being a neglectful husband and his sexuality. During the marriage, Penniman and Harvin adopted a one-year-old boy, Danny Jones, from a late church associate. Penniman and his son remained close, with Jones often acting as one of his bodyguards.
In 2013, Penniman 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 his apocalyptic prophesies generated snickers from some audience members as well as cheers of support. Penniman 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.”
In 2017, Penniman returned to his spiritual roots and appeared in a lengthy televised interview on 3ABN and later he shared his personal testimony at 3ABN Fall Camp Meeting 2017.
Penniman was honored by many institutions. He 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 was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2015, Penniman received a Rhapsody & Rhythm Award from the National Museum of African American Music for his key role in the formation of popular music genres and helping to bring an end to the racial divide on the music charts and in concert in the mid-1950s, changing American culture significantly. “Tutti Frutti” was included in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2010, which stated that his “unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music”. He also recorded a charting soul ballad, “In the Middle of the Night”, released with proceeds donated to victims of tornadoes that had caused damage in 12 states. In 2007, an eclectic 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 saying that 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 Little 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.
The UK issue of GQ named Penniman its Man of the Year in its Legend category in 2010.
Penniman appeared in person to receive an honorary degree from his hometown’s Mercer University on May 11, 2013.The day before the doctorate of humanities degree was to be bestowed upon him, the mayor of Macon announced that one of Little Richard’s childhood homes, an historic site, will be moved to a rejuvenated section of that city’s Pleasant Hill district. It will be restored and named the Little Richard Penniman—Pleasant Hill Resource House, a meeting place where local history and artifacts will be displayed as provided by residents.[
On May 9, 2020, little Richard Penniman died at the age of 87 in Tennessee from a cause related to a struggle with bone cancer. At the time of his death, he was living with his brother in Nashville, Tennessee. His brother and son were with him at the time of his passing. In the wake of his death, Penniman received tributes from many artists who he influenced during his career.
Penniman received the 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.
2010: He received a plaque on the theater’s Walk of Fame.
2015: He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
2015: He was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.
2015: He received the Rhapsody & Rhythm Award from the National Museum of African American Music.
2019: He received the Distinguished Artist Award at the 2019 Tennessee Governor’s Arts Awards
Studio albums
Here’s Little Richard (1957)
Little Richard (1958)
The Fabulous Little Richard (1958)
Pray Along with Little Richard (1960)
Pray Along with Little Richard (Vol 2) (1960)
The King of the Gospel Singers (1962)
Little Richard Is Back (And There’s A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On!) (1964)
Little Richard’s Greatest Hits (1965)
The Incredible Little Richard Sings His Greatest Hits – Live! (1967)
The Wild and Frantic Little Richard (1967)
The Explosive Little Richard (1967)
Little Richard’s Greatest Hits: Recorded Live! (1967)
The Rill Thing (1970)
Mr. Big (1971)
The King of Rock and Roll (1971)
Friends from the Beginning – Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix (1972)
Southern Child (1972) unreleased
Second Coming (1972)
Right Now! (1974)
Talkin’ ’bout Soul (1974)
Little Richard Live (1976) all studio
Going All The Way With Little Richard (live) (1979)
God’s Beautiful City (1979)
Lifetime Friend (1986)
Shake It All About (1992)
Little Richard Meets Masayoshi Takanaka (1992)
Films
The Girl Can’t Help It (1956), lip-syncing the title number (different version from record), “Ready Teddy” and “She’s Got It”
Don’t Knock the Rock (1956), lip-syncing “Long Tall Sally” and “Tutti Frutti”
Mister Rock and Roll (1957), lip-syncing “Lucille” and “Keep A-Knockin'”, on original prints
Catalina Caper (aka Never Steal Anything Wet, 1967), Richard lip-syncs an original tune, “Scuba Party”, still unreleased on record by 2019.
Little Richard: Live at the Toronto Peace Festival (1969) – released on DVD in 2009 by Shout! Factory
The London Rock & Roll Show (1973), performing “Lucille”, “Rip It Up”, “Good Golly Miss Molly”, “Tutti Frutti”, “I Believe” [a capella, a few lines], and “Jenny Jenny”
Jimi Hendrix (1973)
Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), co-starred as Orvis Goodnight and performed the production number, “Great Gosh A-Mighty”
Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll TV Documentary (1987)
Goddess of Love Made For TV Movie (1988)
Purple People Eater (1988)
Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989) (uncredited)
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures (1990) (voice)
Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme (1990)
Columbo – S10E3 “Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star” (1991) (Cameo)
The Naked Truth (1992)
Sunset Heat (aka Midnight Heat) (1992)
James Brown: The Man, The Message, The Music TV Documentary (1992)
Martin S1E12 “Three Men and a Mouse” as The Exterminator (1992)
The Pickle (1993)
Last Action Hero (1993)
Full House (1994) (Cameo) – Episode: Too Little Richard Too Late
Baywatch (1995) as Maurice in Episode: The Runaways
The Drew Carey Show (1997) (cameo) – Episode: Drewstock
Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998)
Mystery Alaska (1999)
The Trumpet of the Swan (2001) (voice)
The Simpsons (2002) (voice)
Let the Good Times Roll (1973) featured performances and behind-the-scenes candid footage of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Bill Haley, the Five Satins, the Shirelles, Chubby Checker, and Danny and the Juniors