Little Richard
Birth Name:
Richard Wayne Penniman
Birth Place:
Macon, Georgia, United States
Profession
Soundtrack, Actor, Music department, Producer
Fast Facts
- Inducted into the National Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the American Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003
- Enrolled at Oakwood College in Alabama to study theology after recommitting himself to Christianity by the late '50s
- Is the third-oldest child of 12 total siblings
- Is the son of a well-known church pastor in rural Georgia, who also sold moonshine and ran an illicity nightclub
- Began his career in vaudeville performing at 16-years-old
- Quote: "I think my legacy should be that when I started in show business, there was no such thing as rock 'n' roll․ When I started with Tutti Frutti, that is when rock really starting rocking․"
- Quote: "I think that when people want joy and fun and happiness, they want to hear the old-time rock 'n' roll․ And I am just glad I was a part of that․"
- Addmitted to being dependent on drugs during much of the 1970s and stated that the habit used to cost him over $1,000 each day
- Recorded his first professional songs under RCA in 1951 after meeting longtime friend and manager Billy Wright
- Claimed his decision to join the ministry was inspired by a strange vision in the late 1950s, and later possibly identified as the launch of Sputnik 1
- Given the nickname "Lil' Richard" early in life by his family due to his small stature
- Was removed from his church's choir as a teen for always changing the key and singing louder than the rest of the choir
- Worked with then-unknown musicians James Brown, Billy Preston and Jimi Hendrix
- Ordained as an evangelical minister in 1970