Little Richard (Penniman, Richard)

December 25, 1935

Born to a devout Seventh-Day Adventist family, Richard Penniman, best known as Little Richard, began singing and playing piano in the church. He left home at thirteen to start a musical career. In 1951 he made some recordings with various jump-blues bands but with little success. Shortly thereafter, however, he began recording for Specialty Records, where he was to have six hits, beginning with "Tutti Frutti" (1954), that outlined the style that became rock and roll. In 1957 he left his music career behind and enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, following an "apocalyptic vision." He received a B.A. and became a minister in the Seventh-Day Adventist church. Inspired by the "British invasion," he returned to rock and roll in 1964, but he was unable to recapture his early success. During the 1970s he brought his flamboyant act to the Las Vegas showroom circuit, billing himself as the "bronze Liberace." Little Richard returned to the church in the early 1980s, but his influence on rock and roll was not forgotten. In 1986 he was among the first artists inducted into the newly established Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an honor that helped restore his celebrity status in the late 1980s. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and his hometown of Macon, Georgia, has named a boulevard in his honor. In 2003, Little Richard was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The following year, his album Get Down with It: The Okeh Sessions was released.

Little Richard's style—defined by his Specialty recordings—featured frenetic, shrieking vocals, suggestive lyrics, and boogie-woogie-style piano performed at a remarkably fast tempo. His flamboyant stage persona and extravagant costumes also became a significant part of his act.

See also Music in the United States

Bibliography

"Little Richard." In St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.

Morthland, John. "Little Richard." In New Grove Dictionary of American Music, vol. 3. New York: Macmillan, 1986.

"Rock's Top Ten: Little Richard." Rolling Stone 467 (February 13, 1986): 37.

White, Charles. The Life and Times of Little Richard. New York: Harmony, 1984.

daniel thom (1996)
Updated by publisher 2005