Rock music legend Little Richard dies at 87

TNT Newsline May 9, 2020 2 minutes read

Rock music legend Little Richard has died at the age of 87, his family have confirmed.

The star, whose hits included Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, and Good Golly Miss Molly, inspired a generation of musicians.

His death was confirmed by his son Danny Penniman, Rolling Stone said. His cause of death has not been revealed.

Richard was a trailblazer for many of the most iconic acts in modern music history. Acts like Elvis, Elton John, the Beatles, Prince and more could trace their inspiration from the artist – known for his boisterous personality an androgynous fashion.

With a distinctive voice that ranged from robust belting to howling falsetto, Richard transfixed audiences and became an inspiration for artists including The Beatles as he transformed the blues into the feverish new style of rock ‘n’ roll alongside Fats Domino and Chuck Berry.

The musician first hit was the 1955 song ‘Tutti Frutti’. Pictured in 1965

His raunchy 1955 song ‘Tutti Frutti,’ even with its gay sex theme toned down for radio, became a sort of opening salvo of rock ‘n’ roll’s entry into American life, starting with his nonsensical but instantly thrilling first line: ‘Awop bop a loo mop / Alop bam boom.’

Following ‘Tutti Frutti,’ Little Richard dominated with ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Rip It Up’ in that same year. ‘Lucille’ came in 1957 and was joined by ‘Good Golly Miss Molly’ in 1958.

‘I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it,’ Elton John told Rolling Stone in 1973. ‘I didn’t ever want to be anything else. I’m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder.’

But if his contemporaries kept the respectabilities of old-time musicians, Richard stunned buttoned-down post-World War II America with an otherworldly look of blindingly colorful shirts, glass-embedded dinner jackets, a needle-thin moustache and a 15-centimeter (six-inch) high pompadour haircut. (Dailymail)