Spotify Music: Listen to Little Richard Today
The Architect of Rock & Roll Passes, the Music is Forever
Legendary rock'n'roll showman Little Richard, influence on generations of musicians, has died aged 87.
Much will be written over the next few days about this iconic artist. So I’ll skip trying to be poetic. But I have loved his music almost all my life, courtesy of my mom, who has introduced me to so much amazing music from her youth.
And if there is a word to describe Little Richard, it’s ‘amazing.’
The Little Richard whose protégé, Jimi Hendrix, would later say that he wanted to do with his guitar what Richard did with his voice. This was the freak, the circus showman, the vamping diva, the Holy Ghost.
He sounds breathless and fierce, a little unhinged. He sounds like the last man on earth singing the first song ever written.
Prayers for Richard (@oxfordamerican)
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