( Reuters) – Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” who developed his ground-breaking noise with a boiling blend of boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues and gospel, passed away on Saturday at the age of87
Richard, a Grammy Award winner and inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame whose electrifying 1950 s hits such as “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally” and flamboyant stage presence affected legions of entertainers, caught cancer.
” Little Richard died in Tullahoma, Tennessee of bone cancer. He was liked by his family and loved by millions,” his household stated in a statement through their legal representative, Bill Sobel.
Richard’s bass guitar player, Charles Glenn, informed star site TMZ the artist had actually been sick for two months which he passed away surrounded by his sibling, sis and kid.
At his peak in the late 1950 s and early ’60 s, Richard shouted, groaned, shrieked and trilled hits like “Good Golly, Miss Molly” and “Lucille,” all the while pounding the piano like a mad man and stressing lyrics with an occasional piercing “whoooo!”
Time publication said he played “tunes that sounded like rubbish … but whose beat appeared to hint of unearthly satisfaction centered someplace between the gut and the gutter.”
The music attracted both young black and white fans at a time when parts of the United States still were strictly segregated. Many white artists, such as Pat Boone, had their own hit variations of Richard’s songs, albeit substantially toned down and “much safer” for the pop audience.
” I have actually always thought that rock ‘n’ roll brought the races together,” Richard once told a job interviewer. “Although I was black, the fans didn’t care. I used to feel excellent about that.”
Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, James Brown, Otis Redding, David Bowie and Rod Stewart all cited Littl