Looks like Jerry Lee Lewis is the only rockabilly star we have left. Just confirmed to Rolling Stone, Little Richard, the wild, screamin’ piano maestro who helped define rock and roll, has died of bone cancer. He was 87 years old.
Born Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5, 1932, his earliest gigs involved opening for gospel legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe at the age of 14. Eventually, after a few years of failing to get some hits with RCA Victor, Richard scored a no. 2 hit on the Billboard 200 in 1955: "Tutti Frutti," which went on to become one of the best known songs of the rockabilly era. Which one was that? It’s the one that goes “a wop-bop-a-loo-bob-a-wop-bam-boom,” dummy!
After "Tutti Frutti" came a whole string of hits that would include “Long Tall Sally,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” and “Rip It Up,” all of which would get covered by future rock and rollers over and over again. Richard and his musical flamboyance and style became so quickly adored, that integrated audiences attended his shows during a time of segregation going strong in the U.S. He defied gender norms, sporting nail polish, makeup, and outlandish hairstyles and outfits while onstage. Makes you wonder where Bowie and Elton got their inspiration from, huh?
Following his initial success in the 50s, Richard performed on and off for decades, staying involved with occasionally recording new, gospel-oriented material, but not scoring anymore Top 10 hits. One of his last shows was actually in Pensacola back in 2013. That was the year he announced that he’d never perform again, nearly 65 after "Tutti Frutti".
Along with the music, he was very involved in his strong Christian faith his whole life, in spite of years of saying he was gay. In a 2017 interview with the Christian-run Three Angels Broadcasting Network, he ditched the wig and makeup, and in a conservative manner, rescinded that statement, calling homosexuality unnatural and against “the way God wants you to live.”
Well, should it really matter how Little freaking Richard saw things near the end of his life? That doesn’t change the fact that he left an everlasting footprint on music as we know it.
Oh, and did you know he actually ministered Tom Petty and Dana York’s wedding in 2001?
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This article appears in May 7-13, 2020.