Updated at 1:55 p.m. ET Little Richard, the self-described "king and queen" of rock and roll and an outsize influence on everyone from David Bowie to Prince, died Saturday. He was 87 years old. Wayne Chaney, his longtime bandleader and tour manager, tells NPR that Little Richard died at his brother's home in Tullahoma, Tenn., after a battle with cancer. Rolling Stone was the first to report of Little Richard's death. With his ferocious piano playing, growling and gospel-strong vocals, pancake makeup and outlandish costumes, Little Richard tore down barriers starting in the 1950s. That is no small feat for any artist — let alone a black, openly gay man who grew up in the South. He was a force of nature who outlived many of the musicians he inspired, from Otis Redding to the late Prince and Michael Jackson. His peers James Brown and Otis Redding idolized him. Jimi Hendrix, who once played in Little Richard's band, said he wanted his guitar to sound like Richard's voice. The late David

"The Architect of Rock 'n' Roll" is being remembered in his hometown of Macon, Georgia, after he died Saturday at 87. "Little" Richard Penniman created music like no one had heard before. And, growing up in Macon’s historically Black Pleasant Hill neighborhood, he was a kid like no one had seen before.

Rock-‘n‘-Roll-Pionier Little Richard ist am Samstag im Alter von 87 Jahren gestorben. In den 50er-Jahren riss er seine Fans mit seiner wilden Bühnenpräsenz zu Begeisterungsstürmen hin. Die Todesursache ist noch unbekannt.

Little Richard gilt als Wegbereiter des Rock 'n' Roll, erlangte in den 50ern mit Hits wie „Tutti Frutti“ weltweite Bekanntheit. Nun ist der amerikanische Musiker im Alter von 87 Jahren verstorben.

A lot is going on this week in the world of cinema, including the nods for next year's Golden Globes! In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair meets up with Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins to discuss the latest movie news and all of the new flicks arriving at your local movie house this weekend.

One of Georgia’s most iconic musicians, Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard, has died at age 87.

"The Architect of Rock 'n' Roll" is being remembered in his hometown of Macon, Georgia, after he died Saturday at 87. "Little" Richard Penniman created music like no one had heard before. And, growing up in Macon’s historically Black Pleasant Hill neighborhood, he was a kid like no one had seen before.

T. Hardy Morris has moved some molecules in his day as a member of the very loud Athens, GA band Dead Confederate. In recent years, Morris has turned it down a notch with solo work both quieter and more personal. In this Field Session Morris talks about how turning into your Dad isn't so bad, about work life balance for a touring musician with a wife, a kid and a baby on the way and on the difference between a poet and a songwriter. Produced with the Field Note Stenographers.

The CDC is recommending that to avoid spreading the Coronavirus we wash our hands often and don’t touch our face. However, when it comes to habits like touching our faces, just stopping cold turkey is harder than we might think. On this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk...

Karen and Bradley play and discuss Richard Fontana's Linux Collaboration Summit 2012 talk, The Decline of the GPL, and What To Do About It.

Show Notes:

Segment 0 (00:36)

Karen mentioned a legal summit where Richard and Karen spoke; the same event where the organizers said having Bradley speak would be the same as having the caterers speak.

Segment 1 (04:46)

Fontana's slides for this talk are available on Fontana's website.

Note that this talk is a longer version of Ricahrd Fontana's FOSDEM 2012 talk, The (possible) decline of the GPL, and what to do about it from the FOSDEM 2012 Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom.

Segment 2 (57:24)

Bradley and Karen discuss Fontana's talk.

Send feedback and comments on the cast to <oggcast@faif.us>. You can keep in touch with Free as in Freedom on our IRC channel, #faif on irc.freenode.net, and by following Conservancy on on Twitter and and FaiF on Twitter.

Free as in Freedom is produced by Dan Lynch of danlynch.org. Theme music written and performed by Mike Tarantino with Charlie Paxson on drums.

The content of this audcast, and the accompanying show notes and music are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Karen and Bradley play and discuss Richard Fontana's LinuxCon North America 2012 talk, The Tragedy of the Commons Gatekeepers.

Show Notes:

Segment 0 (00:33)

Bradley and Karen introduce Richard Fontana's talk.

Segment 1 (02:48)

Richard Fontana's slides are available online, and there is also a well-written summary of the talk available on LWN.

Segment 2 (47:15)

Karen and Bradley discuss Fontana's talk.

Send feedback and comments on the cast to <oggcast@faif.us>. You can keep in touch with Free as in Freedom on our IRC channel, #faif on irc.freenode.net, and by following Conservancy on on Twitter and and FaiF on Twitter.

Free as in Freedom is produced by Dan Lynch of danlynch.org. Theme music written and performed by Mike Tarantino with Charlie Paxson on drums.

The content of this audcast, and the accompanying show notes and music are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Austin’s Hardproof is extra special to us at Team This Song. Their song “Mahout” begins and ends every episode of our podcast so we consider them part of the family. They have just released their new record “Stinger” on Modern Outsider Records and when they came to KUTX to talk with Elizabeth about it, band members […]

Austin’s Hardproof is extra special to us at Team This Song. Their song “Mahout” begins and ends every episode of our podcast so we consider them part of the family. They have just released their new record “Stinger” on Modern Outsider Records and when they came to KUTX to talk with Elizabeth about it, band members […]

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the career of legendary photographer Ernest C. Withers with Richard Cahan, author of Revolution in Black and White: Photographs of the Civil Rights Era by Ernest C. Withers.

Die ganz großen Erfolge blieben für Little Richard seit den späten 1950er Jahren aus. Doch sein Einfluss prägte über Jahrzehnte Generationen von Künstlern. Nun ist das Urgestein des Rock'n'Roll mit 87 Jahren gestorben. Von Arthur Landwehr.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Little Richard, one of the chief architects of rock ‘n’ roll whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday after battling bone cancer. He was 87. Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated […]

Reaction to the death of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard, who died Saturday at 87. — “I’m so saddened to hear about the passing of Little Richard, he was the biggest inspiration of my early teens and his music still has the same raw electric energy when you play it now as it did […]

Chuck Jaffe: As they shelter at home, Americans have been building their knowledge on seemingly every subject. That doesn't make them financial experts.

One of the most powerful business lobbies says it wants to change the calculus that is giving capitalism a bad name. It's a good idea, but faces tremendous resistance.

It was a rocky week on Wall Street, as most securities fell and some saw record declines. Seattle-area companies felt the pain as sharply as any.

About 14,800 initial unemployment claims by bartenders were filed from March 8 through April 25, which closely matches the number of people estimated to work as bartenders in Washington in the second quarter of 2020.

Even before the ban, concern about the novel coronavirus fed into steep drops in ticket sales and canceled fundraising galas, school performances and corporate gigs. Now, arts organizations are trying to assess the potential damage of the new restrictions.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Little Richard, one of the chief architects of rock ‘n’ roll whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday after battling bone cancer. He was 87. Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated […]

Reaction to the death of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard, who died Saturday at 87. — “I’m so saddened to hear about the passing of Little Richard, he was the biggest inspiration of my early teens and his music still has the same raw electric energy when you play it now as it did […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Little Richard, one of the chief architects of rock ‘n’ roll whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday after battling bone cancer. He was 87. Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated […]

Reaction to the death of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard, who died Saturday at 87. — “I’m so saddened to hear about the passing of Little Richard, he was the biggest inspiration of my early teens and his music still has the same raw electric energy when you play it now as it did […]

It was a rocky week on Wall Street, as most securities fell and some saw record declines. Seattle-area companies felt the pain as sharply as any.

Microsoft hired Ruben Caballero, Apple's former executive in charge of wireless technologies, to work on mixed reality hardware and artificial intelligence technology.

UW coaches understand the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and are fully in support of prioritizing health concerns. It’s just that no one could be quite prepared for the abrupt nature of this decision.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Little Richard, one of the chief architects of rock ‘n’ roll whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday after battling bone cancer. He was 87. Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated […]

Reaction to the death of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard, who died Saturday at 87. — “I’m so saddened to hear about the passing of Little Richard, he was the biggest inspiration of my early teens and his music still has the same raw electric energy when you play it now as it did […]

Chuck Jaffe: As they shelter at home, Americans have been building their knowledge on seemingly every subject. That doesn't make them financial experts.

The company's first-quarter sales rose 26% year over year to $75.5 billion. But expenses related to Amazon’s pandemic response weighed on the bottom line in the three-month period ended March 31.

After covering the 2016 presidential election, comedian and journalist Sopan Deb explored his immigrant past by traveling to India ...

COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on workers. The economy has plunged so quickly that official statistics can’t keep up, but the available data suggest that tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, with more job losses to come and full recovery probably years away. But Republicans […]

When the longtime owner of the tiny Leschi Market along Lake Washington came down with COVID-19, the coronavirus hit home for generations of his patrons and fans.

Elijah Hardy averaged just 1.9 points, 1.1 assists, 1.1 rebounds and 1.2 turnovers in 11.0 minutes while appearing in 29 games.

UW Huskies backup point guard Elijah Hardy who averaged 1.9 points, 1.1 assists and 1.1 rebounds gets a chance for a prominent role at Portland State.

Students and teachers alike are getting creative about how to prep for this year's modified Advanced Placement exams at a time when classes are being taught remotely across the state.

UW coaches understand the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and are fully in support of prioritizing health concerns. It’s just that no one could be quite prepared for the abrupt nature of this decision.

UW Huskies backup point guard Elijah Hardy who averaged 1.9 points, 1.1 assists and 1.1 rebounds gets a chance for a prominent role at Portland State.

Public health officials warned against drawing conclusions from the demographic breakdown, because race and ethnicity data was known for only about 51% of confirmed cases in King County.

About 14,800 initial unemployment claims by bartenders were filed from March 8 through April 25, which closely matches the number of people estimated to work as bartenders in Washington in the second quarter of 2020.

About 14,800 initial unemployment claims by bartenders were filed from March 8 through April 25, which closely matches the number of people estimated to work as bartenders in Washington in the second quarter of 2020.

De Amerikaanse zanger Little Richard is op 87-jarige leeftijd overleden aan de gevolgen van botkanker.

Little Richard geldt als een van de belangrijkste grondleggers van de rock-'n-roll. Hij wordt vaak in één adem genoemd met grootheden als Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley en Buddy Holly.

Voorloper

Midden jaren vijftig had hij veel succes met nummers als Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Lucille en Good Golly Miss Molly. Hij was geliefd bij zowel witte als zwarte Amerikanen en dat was tijdens de strikte rassenscheiding in die periode heel bijzonder.

Richard wordt met zijn opvallende manier van kleden en zijn voorliefde voor glitters ook wel gezien als de voorloper van wat in de jaren zeven zou uitgroeien tot 'glamrock'.

Met zijn opzwepende manier van zingen en optredens met veel showelementen drukte hij een heel eigen stempel op de rock-'n-roll. Hij beïnvloedde tal van andere muzikanten, onder wie Prince, Michael Jackson, The Beatles en The Rolling Stones.

"Hij was de grootste inspiratiebron in mijn vroege tienerjaren en zijn muziek heeft, als je het nu speelt, nog steeds diezelfde rauwe elektrische energie als in het midden van de jaren 50", zegt Mick Jagger op Twitter. De Stones tourden met Little Richard. Jagger leerde daar veel van.

Richard Penniman groeide op in een zeer religieus gezin. Zijn vader was geestelijke en ook zijn moeder was zeer actief in de kerk. Thuis werd hij Little Richard genoemd, omdat hij klein en mager was. Later koos hij deze bijnaam als artiestennaam.

Op jonge leeftijd zong hij in het kerkkoor en leerde hij piano spelen. Hij werd muzikaal beïnvloed door gospelzangers als Joe May, Rosetta Tharpe en Marion Williams. Toen Tharpe hem eens voorafgaand aan een concert twee van haar nummers hoorde zingen was ze zo onder de indruk dat ze hem uitnodigde op het podium. Sindsdien wilde Little Richard niets liever dan op het podium staan.

Antwoord op Ray Charles

Hij verwaarloosde z'n school en richtte zich op een zangcarrière. In 1951 kreeg hij een platencontract. In zijn thuisstaat Georgia scoorde hij een hit met het nummer Every Hour, maar verder had hij niet veel succes. Tot hij een paar jaar later overstapte naar Specialty Records, dat hem beschouwde als het antwoord op de succesvolle zanger en pianist Ray Charles.

In 1955 bracht hij Tutti Frutti uit, wat onmiddellijk een succes werd in zowel de Verenigde Staten als in Groot-Brittannië. De opvolger Long Tall Sally (1956) deed het nog beter. Hij bereikte daarmee de eerste plaats in de Amerikaanse R&B-lijst. Van beide singles werden miljoenen exemplaren verkocht.

In drie jaar scoorde hij 18 hits en de miljoenen stroomden binnen. Samen met zijn begeleidingsband The Upsetters, waar ook gitarist Jimmi Hendrix een tijd lang deel van uitmaakte, gaf hij concerten in binnen- en buitenland. Die concerten met een lichtshow, Little Richards extravagante kleding, make-up en de capriolen die hij uithaalde tijdens het piano spelen waren voor die tijd uitzonderlijk.

Obscene teksten

De verbazing was dan ook groot toen hij in 1957 tijdens een concert in Sydney aankondigde dat hij ermee stopte om predikant te worden. Hij nam dat besluit op basis van enkele 'voortekenen', zoals een rode vuurbal die hij tijdens het concert in Sydney door de lucht had zien vliegen. Hij zag dat als een waarschuwing van God dat hij boete moest doen voor het maken van muziek met obscene teksten en zijn rock-'n-roll-levensstijl. Later bleek de rode vuurbal afkomstig te zijn van de lancering van de Spoetnik 1-satelliet.

Terug in de VS ging hij theologie studeren en trok daarna als predikant het land door. Ook nam hij weer gospelnummers op.

In 1962 werd hij door zijn tourmanager overgehaald om weer te gaan optreden in Europa. De pas begonnen band The Beatles speelde een paar keer in zijn voorprogramma en hij gaf Paul McCartney zangadvies.

In de jaren zestig en zeventig was hij behoorlijk aan de drugs. Ook dronk hij veel. Zelf zei hij later over die periode: "Ze hadden me beter 'Little Cocaine' kunnen noemen gezien de hoeveelheden die ik in die tijd gebruikte". In de jaren zeventig kostte zijn verslaving hem ongeveer 1000 dollar per dag.

In 1977 trok hij zich opnieuw terug uit de showbizz, kickte af en nam zijn werk als predikant weer op. Ook bracht hij in 1979 het gospelalbum God's Beautiful City uit. In 1986 maakte hij een comeback met een rol in de film Down and Out in Beverly Hills, waarvoor hij ook de soundtrack zong. Dat zelfde jaar was hij onder de eerste artiesten die opgenomen werden in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Hij begon weer concerten te geven en werkte ook samen met andere artiesten. Zo schreef hij een aantal nummers voor Elvis Costello, rapte in het nummer Elvis is Dead van Living Color en was te horen in het achtergrondkoor van When Love Comes to Town, de hit van B.B. King en U2.

Hij kreeg vele prijzen en vermeldingen, waaronder een Grammy Life Time Achievement Award en de opname van Tutti Frutti werd toegevoegd aan het register van The Library of Congress. In dat register worden opnames bewaard van alle muziek die belangrijk is geweest voor de Amerikaanse cultuur.

Homoseksualiteit

In 1995 vertelde hij in een interview dat hij homoseksueel was. Een gevoelig onderwerp voor de diep religieuze zanger. Hij is een keer getrouwd geweest, maar dat huwelijk hield niet lang stand. Hij had geen eigen kinderen. Wel adopteerde hij via zijn kerk een baby, Danny Jones, die toen hij ouder werd vaak optrad als zijn lijfwacht.

Ook in het nieuwe millennium bleef hij optreden, hoewel dat fysiek lastiger werd omdat hij problemen had met zijn been en heup.

In 2012 schreef Rolling Stone Magazine over zijn concert in Washington D.C. "nog steeds vol vuur, nog steeds een ongekende showman, zijn stem is nog steeds gevuld met een diepe gospel en ranzige kracht".

Little Richard, whose outrageous showmanship and lightning-fast rhythms intoxicated crowds in the 1950s with hits like Tutti Frutti and Long Tall Sally, has died. He was 87 years old.