The self-described rock and roll "King and Queen" of Rock and Roll, a huge impact on everyone from David Bowie to Prince, died on Saturday. He was 87 years old.
His death was announced on his official Facebook page, as well as by his son Danny Jones Benneman, who confirmed the news first to Rolling Stone.
By playing fierce piano, singing and gospel power, pie makeup and exotic costumes, Little Richard tore up barriers from the 1950s. This is not easy for any artist - not to mention a black, gay man openly raised in the south.
It was a force of nature that spanned the lives of many musicians who inspired it, from Otis Redding to the late Prince and Michael Jackson. It was endorsed by his colleagues James Brown and Otis Reading. Jimmy Hendricks, who once played for Little Richard, said he wanted his guitar to sound like Richard's. The late David Bowie was 9 years old when he first saw Young Richard in a movie. "Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have gone to music," Bowie told Performing Songwriter in 2003.
Young Richard was a bold showman in everything he did: films like Down and Out In Beverly Hills, children's music and commercials. But above all, he was a pioneer in rock and roll, mixing the gospel, country, vaudeville and blues into something of his own.
Young Richard Richard Wayne Benneman was born on December 5, 1932 in Macon, Georgia, and was one of 12 brothers. His father was brick brick, runaway and ultimately the owner of a nightclub. When Richard was nineteen years old, his father was killed outside his club: Charles Benneman died on February 15, 1952
Little Richard told NPR's Morning Edition in 1984 that Macon was "a muddy little town."
To develop his style, Little Richard borrowed some things from artists he liked, such as the singer and pianist named Esquerita. Eskerita was overtly gay, dressed in makeup and high-end clothes. Little Richard also learned to play the piano.
Then there was the gospel singer Marion Williams, whom Young Richard said had got the hustle and bustle of his brand.
Charles White, author of the authoritative autobiography entitled The Life and Times of Little Richard, described his voice as "a snowstorm across Arctic waste. I mean, every big rock singer tried to transcribe his voice."
In the 1950s, the music industry was separated - much like many other things in America.
"At the time, black records were considered race records," Little Richard told Morning Edition. "The black records were not recorded on the white stations at that time."
"I was knocking for years and they didn't let me in," he said. "I keep coming back, I try again. I had nothing. While I was slipping and slipping, they kept and were hiding - putting my money in unknown banks."
In the end, Little Richard made a lot of money from his films, movies and television appearances. He toured the world. It was, in many ways, a live, respectable and ironic icon.
Young Richard was a very radical man: a wild pop star and a very religious person known to carry the Bible everywhere, quoting from him frequently. There were periods during his career when he left the show entirely for preaching. He often said that he wanted to be a minister, like others in his family.
The 1970s were tough for little Richard. He used to drink and take drugs every day, and it usually cost him hundreds of dollars a day.
His younger brother died around that time, and two of his friends were killed.
Then I said, "Well, God is trying to tell me something. Then the idea came to me: “What does a man benefit from if the whole world wins and loses his soul?” Or “What gives a person to God in exchange for a soul?” And I decided to give my life to God.
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