Little Richard

Little Richard Little Richard was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist whose frenetic energy, flamboyant persona, and electrifying piano playing on recordings such as "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally," and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" helped establish the musical and performative vocabulary of rock and roll. He broke racial barriers in the mid-1950s by reaching white audiences at a time of rigid segregation, and his queering of gender norms and theatrical excess influenced artists from James Brown and Jimi Hendrix to David Bowie and Prince. He died on May 9, 2020, at age 87.