Little Richard



Ten Facts

#1. Real Name: Richard Wayne Penniman


#2. He claimed to be “the architect of rock and roll”


#3. He began performing on stage and on the road in 1945


#4. He began his recording career on October 16, 195by imitating the gospel -influenced style of late-1940s jump blues artist Billy Wright, who was a friend of his and set him up with the opportunity to record.


#5. He was one of four people to receive the Rhythem and Blues Foundations’s Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award



#6. In January 1958 Little Richard enrolled in and attended Bible College to become a preacher and evangelist.


#7. Born in Macon Georgia –> the third of 12 children. His father was a bootlegger.


#8. In school Richard played alto saxophone in the marching band , he lost interest in school and began performing in a variety of travelling shows in his mid teens.


#9. His father was shot to death while he was performing at a club on January 12, 1952.


#10. Penniman was flying from Melbourne to appear in front of 40,000 fans in concert in Sydney. Shocked by the red hot appearance of the engines against the night sky, he envisioned angels holding up the plane. Then, while he performed at the stadium, he was shaken by the sight of a ball of fire that he watched streak across the sky overhead. He took what was actually the Russian satellite Sputnik as another sign to quit show business and follow God. The following day he departed Sydney on a ferry and threw his $8,000 ring in the water to show his band members that he was serious about quitting. The plane that he was originally scheduled to fly back home on ended up crashing in the Pacific Ocean, which he took as confirmation that he was doing what God wanted him to do



Little Richard IS in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame!