Little Richard, one of the founding fathers of rock and roll, died Saturday. Little Richard was 87, and had been battling a long list of health ailments. But early reports suggests that he may also have contracted the COVID 19 coronavirus.
The musician’s son, Danny Penniman, confirmed Little Richard’s death to Rolling Stone yesterday. Officially, he said that his father’s cause of death was “unknown”.
Little Richard burst onto the music scene in 1956, with is song “Tutti Frutti.”: And he followed it up with a series of hits – “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up” that same year, “Lucille” in 1957, and “Good Golly Miss Molly” in 1958.
Although he never hit the top 10 again after 1958, Little Richard’s influence on music was unrivaled.
The Beatles re-recorded several of Little Richard’s songs, including “Long Tall Sally,” and Paul McCartney’s singing on those tracks – and the Beatles’ own “I’m Down” – paid tribute to Little Richard’s shredded-throat style.
Little Richard lived his life as an openly gay man. Later in life, however, he converted to Christianity and began making comments that many LGBTq community found troubling. Those comments concerned gays and transgenders.