Mourning the loss of music icon Little Richard

Little Richard has left the building, at the age of 87. And, even without the silence of the global lockdown, the popular music building is a lot less raucous, a lot less colourful and a lot less in-your-face.

Richard Wayne Penniman, who as “Little Richard” became one of rock ‘n’ roll’s flashiest, controversial, but undoubtedly most influential performers, helped take the music genre across the boundaries of race, class and gender.

And, as a man who was at one stage openly homosexual, he took on that particular taboo, too.

His no-holds-barred live performances (more like attacks on his piano) influenced some of the icons of rock, including Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley as well as Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Prince.

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan said: “His was the original spirit that moved me to do everything I would do”.

The song that catapulted him to stardom, Tutti Frutti, had to be rewritten because his original lyrics were far too raunchy for a conservative America … and even today they would raise eyebrows.

It was a time of innocence, energy and optimism – the opposite of today.

But, the beat never dies … and someone, somewhere, is gonna have some fun tonight playing his old records.

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