Rev. Richard Wayne Penniman (born December 5 1932), better known by the stage name Little Richard, is a celebrated American singer, songwriter and pianist, who began performing in the 1940s and was a key figure in the transition from rhythm & blues to rock and roll in the 1950s.
Penniman's reputation rests on a string of groundbreaking hit singles from 1955 through 1957, such as "Tutti Frutti", "Lucille" and "Long Tall Sally", which helped lay the foundation for rock and roll music, influencing generations of rhythm and blues, rock and soul music artists. Little Richard's injection of funk during this period also influenced the development of that genre of music.
Little Richard's early work was a mix of boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues and gospel music, but with a heavily accentuated back-beat, funky saxophone grooves and raspy shouted vocals, moans, screams, and other emotive inflections that marked a new kind of music. In 1957, while at the height of stardom, he became a born-again Christian, enrolled in and attended Bible college, and withdrew from recording and performing secular music. White, Charles. (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography. Omnibus Press. Claiming he was called to be an evangelist, he has since devoted large segments of his life to this calling. White, Charles.(2003).
Penniman has earned wide praise from many other performers. Singer James Brown called Little Richard his idol White, Charles. (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography. Omnibus Press. and credited him with "first putting the funk in the rock and roll beat." Smokey Robinson said Penniman's music was "the start of that driving, funky, never let up rock 'n' roll;", while Dick Clark described his music as "the model for almost every rock and roll performer of the '50s and years thereafter." Ray Charles asserted that Little Richard was "the man that started a kind of music that set the pace for a lot of what's happening today." In his high school year book, Bob Dylan declared that his ambition was "to follow Little Richard." In 1969, Elvis Presley told Little Richard, "Your music has inspired me - you are the greatest.". White, Charles. (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography. Omnibus Press., Pg. 227. Otis Redding, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, John Fogerty, Dick Dale, Bob Seger, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and numerous other rock n roll icons have also cited Little Richard as being their first major influence.
