137 Facts About Little Richard

Richard Wayne Penniman, known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter.

Little Richard was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades.

Little Richard influenced singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations.

Little Richard's next hit single, "Long Tall Sally", hit No 1 on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues Best-Sellers chart, followed by a rapid succession of fifteen more in less than three years.

In 1962, after a five-year period during which Little Richard abandoned rock and roll music for born-again Christianity, concert promoter Don Arden persuaded him to tour Europe.

Little Richard is cited as one of the first crossover black artists, reaching audiences of all races.

Little Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986.

Little Richard was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Little Richard was the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Recording Academy and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

Little Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, on December 5,1932, the third of twelve children of Leva Mae and Charles "Bud" Penniman.

Little Richard's 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.

Little Richard's mother was a member of Macon's New Hope Baptist Church.

Little Richard was a mischievous child who played pranks on neighbors.

Little Richard began singing in church and taking piano lessons at a young age.

Little Richard enjoyed the Pentecostal churches the most, because of their charismatic worship and live music.

Little Richard 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".

Little Richard had observed that people sang "to feel their connection with God" and to wash their trials and burdens away.

Little Richard credited the Clara Ward Singers for one of his distinctive hollers.

Little Richard attended Macon's Hudson High School, where he was a below-average student.

Little Richard 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.

In October 1947, Sister Rosetta Tharpe overheard the fourteen-year-old Little Richard singing her songs before a performance at the Macon City Auditorium.

Little Richard performed in drag during this time, performing under the name "Princess LaVonne".

Little Richard was further influenced by Brown's and Wright's flashy showmanship and even more so by Wright's flamboyant persona.

Little 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.

Shortly after the release of "Every Hour", Little Richard was hired to front Perry Welch and His Orchestra and played at clubs and army bases for $100 a week.

Little Richard continued to perform during this time and Clint Brantley agreed to manage Richard's career.

Little Richard signed with Don Robey's Peacock Records in February 1953, recording eight sides, including four with Johnny Otis and his band that were not released at that time.

Little Richard began complaining of monetary issues with Robey, leading Robey to knock him out during a scuffle.

Disillusioned by the record business, Little Richard returned to Macon in 1954.

At the suggestion of Lloyd Price, Little Richard sent a demo to Price's label, Specialty Records, in February 1955.

Months passed before Little Richard got a call from the label.

Frustrated, Blackwell and Little Richard went to relax at the Dew Drop Inn nightclub.

Little Richard began performing on package tours across the United States.

Little Richard began using capes and suits studded with multi-colored stones and sequins.

Little Richard said he became more flamboyant onstage so no one would think he was "after the white girls".

Little 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.

Little Richard was given a larger singing role in the film, The Girl Can't Help It.

On September 2,1956, Little Richard performed at the twelfth Cavalcade of Jazz, held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr.

Shortly after the release of "Tutti Frutti", Little Richard relocated to Los Angeles.

Richard's first album, Here's Little Richard, was released by Specialty in March 1957 and peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard Top LPs chart.

In October 1957, Little Richard embarked on a package tour in Australia with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.

In early 1958, Specialty released his second album, Little Richard, which did not chart.

Little Richard claimed in his autobiography that, during a flight from Melbourne to Sydney, while his plane was experiencing some difficulty, he saw the plane's red-hot engines, and felt angels were "holding it up".

Specialty continued to release Little Richard's recordings, including "Good Golly, Miss Molly", and his unique version of "Kansas City", until 1960.

Little Richard ventured into gospel music, first recording for End Records, before signing with Mercury Records in 1961, where he eventually released King of the Gospel Singers, in 1962, produced by Quincy Jones, who later remarked that Little Richard's vocals impressed him more than any other vocalist he had worked with.

Little Richard agreed and helped to save the tour from flopping.

In 1964, now openly re-embracing rock and roll, Little Richard released "Bama Lama Bama Loo" on Specialty Records.

In December 1964, Little Richard brought Hendrix and childhood friend and piano teacher Eskew Reeder to a New York studio to re-record an album's worth of his greatest hits.

Little Richard went on tour with his new group of Upsetters, to promote the album.

Hendrix and Little Richard clashed over the spotlight, as well as Hendrix's tardiness, wardrobe and stage antics.

Little Richard was later scathing about this period, declaring Larry Williams "the worst producer in the world".

In 1967, Little Richard signed with Brunswick Records, but after clashing with the label over musical direction, he left the following year.

Little Richard felt that producers on his labels did not promote his records during this period.

Little Richard's flamboyant look, while a hit during the 1950s, failed to help his labels to promote him to more conservative black record buyers.

Little Richard later claimed that his decision to "backslide" from his ministry, led religious clergymen to protest his new recordings.

Now acting as his manager, Larry Williams convinced Little Richard to focus on his live shows.

Little Richard was booked at rock festivals such as the Atlantic City Pop Festival where he stole the show from headliner Janis Joplin.

Little Richard produced a similar show stealer at the Toronto Pop Festival with John Lennon as the headliner.

In May 1970, Little Richard made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

Little Richard became a featured guest instrumentalist and vocalist on recordings by acts such as Delaney and Bonnie, Joey Covington and Joe Walsh and was prominently featured on Canned Heat's 1972 hit single, "Rockin' with the King".

Little Richard was booed during the show when he climbed on top of his piano and stopped singing; he seemed to ignore the crowd.

Little Richard did no new recordings in 1974, although two "new" albums were released.

Little Richard cut a top 40 single, with Bachman-Turner Overdrive, "Take It Like a Man".

Little Richard worked on new songs with sideman Seabrun "Candy" Hunter.

Little Richard was talked into recutting his greatest hits, for Stan Shulman in Nashville.

Little Richard re-recorded eighteen of his hits for K-Tel Records in stereo, with a single featuring the new versions of "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Rip It Up" reaching the UK singles chart.

Little Richard later admitted that at the time he was addicted to drugs and alcohol.

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.

Little 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, Little Richard stated that the genre could be used for good or evil.

Little Richard won critical acclaim for his film role and the song found success on the American and British charts.

Little 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".

That same year, Little Richard returned to singing his classic hits following a performance of "Lucille" at an AIDS benefit concert.

In 1990, Little Richard contributed a spoken-word rap on Living Colour's hit song, "Elvis Is Dead", from their album Time's Up.

In 1994, Little Richard sang the theme song to the award-winning PBS Kids and TLC animated television series The Magic School Bus.

Little Richard opened Wrestlemania X from Madison Square Garden that year miming to his reworked rendition of "America the Beautiful".

In 1992 he released his final album, Little Richard Meets Masayoshi Takanaka, featuring members of Richard's touring band.

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.

Little Richard was played by Leon Robinson, who earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance.

In 2002, Little Richard contributed to the Johnny Cash tribute album, Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash.

In 2006, Little Richard was featured in a popular GEICO advertisement.

That same year, Little Richard appeared on radio host Don Imus' benefit album for sick children, The Imus Ranch Record.

In 2009, Little Richard was Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in a concert in New Orleans.

In June 2010, Little Richard recorded a gospel track for an upcoming tribute album to songwriting legend Dottie Rambo.

In September 2013, Rolling Stone published an interview with Little Richard who said that he would be retiring from performing.

On September 6,2017, Little Richard participated in a television interview for the Christian Three Angels Broadcasting Network, appearing in a wheelchair, clean-shaven, without make-up, dressed in a blue paisley coat and tie, where he discussed his Christian faith.

On October 23,2019, Little Richard 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.

Around 1956, Little Richard became involved with Audrey Robinson, a sixteen-year-old college student, originally from Savannah, Georgia.

Little Richard reconnected with Robinson in the 1960s, though she left him again over his drug abuse.

Little Richard met his only wife, Ernestine Harvin, at an evangelical rally in October 1957.

In 1984, Little 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.

Little Richard said he wanted seven boys, and I had spoiled it, because I was gay.

Little Richard's activity caught the attention of Macon police in 1955 and he was arrested when caught in the act.

The incident was reported to the student's father, and Little Richard withdrew from the college.

In 1962, Little Richard was arrested for spying on men urinating in toilets at a Trailways bus station in Long Beach, California.

In 1995, Little Richard told Penthouse that he always knew he was gay, saying "I've been gay all my life".

In October 2017, Little Richard denounced homosexuality in an interview with the Christian Three Angels Broadcasting Network, calling homosexual and transgender identity "unnatural affection" that goes against "the way God wants you to live".

Little Richard often fined bandmates for drug and alcohol use during this era.

Little Richard admitted that his addictions to cocaine, PCP and heroin were costing him as much as $1,000 a day.

Little Richard said that this was the most fearful moment of his life; Williams' own drug addiction made him wildly unpredictable.

Little Richard's family had deep evangelical Christian roots, including two uncles and a grandfather who were preachers.

Little Richard 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.

Little Richard later recalled that they would often indicate that they felt better after he prayed for them and would sometimes give him money.

Little Richard became a vegetarian, which coincided with his return to religion.

Little Richard was ordained a minister in 1970 and resumed evangelical activities in 1977.

Little Richard represented Memorial Bibles International and sold their Black Heritage Bible, which highlighted the Book's many black characters.

Little Richard's preaching focused on uniting the races and bringing lost souls to repentance through God's love.

In 2006, in one ceremony, Little Richard wedded twenty couples who won a contest.

At a benefit concert in 2009 to raise funds to help rebuild children's playgrounds that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Little Richard asked guest of honor Fats Domino to pray with him and others.

Little Richard's assistants handed out inspirational booklets at the concert, a common practice at Richard's shows.

In 2017, Little Richard returned to his SDA spiritual roots and appeared in a televised interview on 3ABN and later he shared his personal testimony at 3ABN Fall Camp Meeting 2017.

In October 1985, having finished Lifetime Friend, Little Richard returned from England to film a guest spot on the show Miami Vice.

Little Richard suffered a broken right leg, broken ribs and head and facial injuries.

Little Richard's 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.

In 2007, Little Richard began having problems walking due to sciatica in his left leg, requiring him to use crutches.

On May 9,2020, after a two-month illness, Little Richard died at the age of 87 at a home in Tullahoma, Tennessee, from a cause related to bone cancer.

Little Richard received tributes from popular musicians, including Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, John Fogerty, Elton John, and Lenny Kravitz.

Little Richard is interred at Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama.

Little Richard embodied the rock and roll spirit more flamboyantly than any other performer.

Little Richard influenced singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to hip hop; his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations.

Little 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.

Little Richard departed from boogie-woogie's shuffle rhythm and introduced a distinctive rock beat, where the beat division is even at all tempos.

Little Richard 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.

Little Richard's voice was able to generate croons, wails, and screams unprecedented in popular music.

Little Richard was cited by two of soul music's pioneers, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, as contributing to the genre's early development.

Cooke had a top 40 hit in 1963 with his cover of Little Richard's 1956 hit "Send Me Some Loving".

Little Richard might come out and walk on the piano.

In 2015, the National Museum of African American Music honored Little Richard for helping to shatter the color line on the music charts changing American culture forever.

Brown allegedly came up with the Famous Flames debut hit, "Please, Please, Please", after Little Richard had written the words on a napkin.

Little Richard was the first rock n roll influence on Rod Stewart and Peter Wolf.

Michael Jackson admitted that Little Richard had been a huge influence on him prior to the release of Off the Wall.

Bruno Mars declared that Little Richard was one of his and his performer-father's early influences.

On September 4,2023, the Rolling Stone-produced documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything premiered following its breakout premier at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Little Richard was ranked eighth on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Little Richard appeared in person to receive an honorary degree from Mercer University in 2013.

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

In 1991, Richard served as the inspiration for the professional wrestling gimmick Johnny B Badd.