Rock 'n' roll pioneer Little Richard, one of the most charismatic performers the music has ever known and a key influence on everyone from the Beatles to Prince, died Saturday of unknown causes. He was 87.
Richard's death was reported by his son, Danny Jones Penniman, and by Pastor Bill Minson, a family friend. He was born Richard Wayne Penniman on Dec. 5, 1932, in Macon, Ga., where he also came of musical age.
In a Saturday post on Instagram, Little Richard band guitarist Kevin Holly said: "Rest in peace, Richard. This one really stings. My thoughts and prayers go out to all my band mates and fans all over the world. Richard truly was the king!"
Alongside Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, Richard was long hailed as one of the prime creators of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s, although he disputed being grouped with them.
"I am the creator of rock 'n' roll, I am the originator, the innovator, the emancipator," Richard declared in a 1993 San Diego Union-Tribune interview, which appears in full below.
"I am the architect of it. I started it. Before me there was nothing but chickens and a few pigs and ducks. Fats Domino and Chuck Berry? They were singing blues, low-down blues, back then. They weren't rocking at that time."
With his pounding piano and exuberant singing at the fore, Richard created some of the most electrifying songs in the rock canon. Perhaps his best was "Tutti Frutti," whose wordless opening vocal declaration _ Awopbobalubobawopbambom! _ captured the spirit of rock in one joyous eruption.
The Beatles enthusiastically covered a number of Richard's classics during the band's early days. Paul McCartney likened performing those songs to having an out-of-body experience.
"I could do Little Richard's voice, which is a wild, hoarse, screaming thing. It's like an out-of-body experience," McCartney once told an interviewer. "You have to leave your current sensibilities and go about a foot above your head to sing it. You have to actually go outside yourself."
Richards' illustrious career was full of ups and downs, from fame and fortune to long periods of inactivity and several arrests. He discussed his music and life with characteristic flair in his 1993 Union-Tribune interview, which appears below in full.
