Little Richard

1957: Here's Little Richard (Specialty)

1958: Volume 2 (Specialty)

1959: The Fabulous Little Richard (Specialty)

1960: Clap Your Hands

1960: Pray Along with Little Richard, Vol. 1

1960: Pray Along with Little Richard, Vol. 2

1962: King of the Gospel Singers

1963: Sings Spirituals

1964: Sings the Gospel

1964: Little Richard Is Back (And There's A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On!)

1965: Little Richard's Greatest Hits

1966: The Incredible Little Richard Sings His Greatest Hits - Live!

1966: The Wild and Frantic Little Richard

1967: The Explosive Little Richard

1967: Little Richard's Greatest Hits: Recorded Live!

1967: Rock N Roll Forever

1968: Little Richard's Grooviest 17 Original Hits (Specialty)

1968: Forever Yours

1969: Good Golly Miss Molly

1969: Little Richard

1970: Rock Hard Rock Heavy

1970: Little Richard

1970: Well Alright!

1970: The Rill Thing (Reprise)

1971: Mr. Big

1971: The King of Rock and Roll (Reprise)

1972: The Second Coming (Reprise)

1972: ''Southern Child (Reprise, unreleased)

1972: Friends from the Beginning - Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix

1972: The Original

1972: You Cant Keep a Good Man Down

1973: Right Now!

1973: Rip It Up

1974: Talkin' 'Bout Soul

1974: Recorded Live

1974: Super Hits

1975: Keep a Knockin'

1976: Sings

1976: Little Richard Live

1977: Now

1977: 22 Original Hits

1979: God's Beautiful City

1983: 20 Greatest Hits

1986: Lifetime Friend

1988: Lucille

1992: Shake It All About

1996: Shag on Down by the Union Hall Featuring Shea Sandlin & Richard "The Sex" Hounsome

2006: Here Comes Little Richard/Little Richard

Actor


A Capitol Fourth (2007) (TV)

Cinderella: Rocked, Wired & Bluesed - The Greatest Video Hits (2005)

The Trumpet of the Swan (2001) (voice)

Chairman of the Board (1998)

"Night Man" (1 episode, 1997)

"Homeboys in Outer Space" (1 episode, 1997)

Baywatch (1 episode, 1995)

The Pickle (1993)

"Martin" (1 episode, 1992)

Sunset Heat (1992)

The Naked Truth (1992)

"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures" (2 episodes, 1990)

Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1990) (TV)

Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989) (uncredited)

Purple People Eater (1988)

Rock 'n' Roll Christmas (1988) (TV)

Goddess of Love (1988) (TV)

"Bustin' Loose" (3 episodes, 1987-1988)

The 8th Annual Black Achievement Awards (1987) (TV)

Amen (1986) TV series (pilot)

Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986)

Miami Vice (1 episode, 1985)

It's Little Richard (1964) (TV)


Producer


Little Richard (2000) (TV) (executive producer)


As HimSelf


Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live: Feelin' Alright (2009)

"Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" (1 episode, 2009)

Entertainment Tonight (2 episodes, 2008)

"The Young and the Restless"(1 episode, 2008)

James Brown: The Man, the Music, & the Message (2008)

The 50th Annual The Grammy Awards 2008 (TV)

"The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?" (1 episode, 2007)

"Larry King Live" (1 episode, 2007)

Celebrity Duets (9 episodes, 2006)

"NFL Monday Night Football" (1 episode, 2006)

"Country Music Across America" (1 episode, 2006)

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2 episodes, 2005)

The 3rd Annual TV Land Awards (2005) (TV)

"Big Time" (1 episode, 2005)

"Hollywood Squares" (30 episodes, 1999-2004)

"On-Air with Ryan Seacrest" (1 episode, 2004)

Las Vegas (1 episode, 2004)

"American Masters" (1 episode, 2003)

"The Sharon Osbourne Show" (1 episode, 2003)

The Simpsons (1 episode, 2003)

"Behind the Music" (3 episodes, 1998-2002)

American Bandstand's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2002) (TV)

33rd NAACP Image Awards (2002) (TV)

It's Black Entertainment (2002) (TV)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1 episode, 2002)

Elvis Lives (2002) (TV)

Rock, Rhythm & Doo Wop (2001) (TV)

The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (2000) (TV)

Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The Early Years (1955-1970) (2000) (TV) (uncredited)

"The Martin Short Show" (1 episode, 1999)

Mystery, Alaska (1999)

Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998)

Quincy Jones... The First 50 Years (1998) (TV)

Motown 40: The Music Is Forever (1998) (TV)

The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1 episode, 1998)

"E! True Hollywood Story"(1 episode, 1998)

Muppets Tonight (1 episode, 1997)

"The Drew Carey Show" (1 episode, 1997)

The 24th Annual American Music Awards (1997) (TV)

Rudy Coby: Ridiculously Dangerous (1996) (TV)

The Late Shift (1996) (TV)

Sinatra: 80 Years My Way (1995) (TV)

"The Crew" (1 episode, 1995)

"Rock & Roll" (1995) TV mini-series

Michael Jackson: Video Greatest Hits - HIStory (1995)

"One Life to Live" (1 episode, 1995)

Sesame Street (1 episode, 1995)

Champions of the World (1995)

The History of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 2 (1995) (TV)

The History of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 1 (1995) (TV)

A Gala for the President at Ford's Theatre (1994) (TV)

28th Annual Country Music Association Awards (1994) (TV)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1 episode, 1994)

"Full House" (1 episode, 1994)

WrestleMania X (1994) (TV)

The 21st Annual American Music Awards (1994) (TV)

The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1993) (TV)

"Hearts Afire" (1 episode, 1993)

Last Action Hero (1993)

Twist (1992)

Muhammad Ali's 50th Birthday Celebration (1992) (TV)

The 13th Annual American Black Achievement Awards (1992) (TV)

Columbo: Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991) (TV)

Voices that Care (1991) (TV)

Blossom (1 episode, 1991)

"Golden Age of Rock'n'Roll" (1991) TV series

The Jaleel White Special (1991) (TV)

The Chipmunks: Rockin' Through the Decades (1990) (TV)

"Ebony/Jet Showcase" (2 episodes, 1985-1990)

Bangles Greatest Hits (1990) (uncredited)

Happy Birthday, Bugs!: 50 Looney Years (1990) (TV)

The Debbie Allen Special (1989) (TV)

The 16th Annual American Music Awards (1989) (TV)

"Family Feud" (1 episode, 1989)

"Lou Rawls Parade of Stars" (1 episode, 1988)

"The New Hollywood Squares" (2 episodes, 1986-1988)

The 60th Annual The Academy Awards 1988 (TV)

The 30th Annual The Grammy Awards 1988 (TV)

"Fantastico 8" (1 episode, 1988)

A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly (1988)

John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band: Sweet Toronto (1988)

Christmas Special (1988) (TV)

"Women in Prison" (1 episode, 1987)

The Magic Years, Vol. 3 (1987)

The Magic Years, Vol. 2 (1987)

The Magic Years, Vol. 1 (1987)

Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (1987)

Diana Ross: Red Hot Rhythm and Blues (1987) (TV)

"Soul Train" (3 episodes, 1972-1987)

The 1st Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1987) (TV)

Motown Returns to the Apollo (1985) (TV)

Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abromowitz (1985) (TV)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (6 episodes, 1970-1984)

Rock and Roll: The Early Days (1984)

"Salute!" (1 episode, 1983)

American Bandstand's 30th Anniversary Special (1981) (TV)

The Little Richard Story (1980)

Little Richard: Portrait of a Legend (1977) (TV)

"All You Need Is Love" (1 episode)

"The Midnight Special" (2 episodes, 1974-1976)

The London Rock and Roll Show (1973)

Jimi Hendrix (1973)

Let the Good Times Roll (1973)

American Bandstand (4 episodes, 1964-1972)

"The Virginia Graham Show" (1 episode, 1971)

"The Barbara McNair Show" (1 episode, 1970)

"The Andy Williams Show" (1 episode, 1970)

"The Dick Cavett Show" (1 episode, 1970)

"The Mike Douglas Show" (1 episode, 1970)

"The Merv Griffin Show" (1 episode, 1970)

"The David Frost Show" (1 episode, 1970)

"This Is Tom Jones" (1 episode, 1969)

33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee (1969) (TV)

Keep on 'Rockin (1969)

"The Pat Boone Show" (1 episode, 1968)

Catalina Caper (1967)

"Ready, Steady, Go!" (3 episodes, 1964-1966)

"Thank Your Lucky Stars" (1 episode, 1962)

Mister Rock and Roll (1957)

Don't Knock the Rock (1956)

The Girl Can't Help It (1956)

Little Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll, 2009.


The Life And Times Of Little Richard: The Authorized Biography, 2003, reprint of 1994.

1986 Inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

1990 Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame

1993 received an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

1994 Lifetime Achievement Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation

1997 received the American Music Award of Merit.

2002, BMI, during the 50th Annual BMI Pop Awards celebration, Little Richard, along with Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, were awarded the first BMI Icon Awards in recognition of their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.”

In 2002, received the NAACP Image Award - Hall of Fame Award for having "distinguished himself as not only an unparalleled musical genius, but also as a unique and innovative performing artist—fusing pure vocal talent with exhilarating showmanship."

In 2003, inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Little Richard #8 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In 2006, inducted into the Apollo Theater Legends Hall of Fame, at the same time as Ella Fitzgerald (who was one of the first winners of 'Amateur Night at the Apollo' in 1934) and Gladys Knight & the Pips.

In 2007, Little Richard's 1955 original hit "Tutti Frutti" topped Mojo's The Top 100 Records That Changed The World.

In 2009, Little Richard was formally inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

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Pounding the piano and howling lyrics in a wild falsetto, Little Richard, the so-called Quasar of Rock, became a seminal figure in the birth of rock & roll. His no-holds-barred style, mascara-coated eyelashes, and high, almost effeminate, pompadour were exotic and in many ways personified the new music’s gleeful sexuality and spirit of rebellion. In his own way and as he is wont to exclaim to anyone in earshot – he is the king of rock & roll.

One of 12 children, Penniman grew up in a devout Seventh-Day Adventist family; his two uncles and a grandfather were preachers, though his father sold bootleg whiskey. The young Penniman sang gospel and learned piano at a local church. But his parents never encouraged his musical interests and at age 13, Penniman was ejected from their house. (In a 1982 televised interview, he claimed it was because of his homosexuality). He moved in with a white family, Ann and Johnny Johnson, who ran Macon’s Tick Tock Club. There Richard first performed.

In 1951 Penniman won a contract with RCA after playing at an Atlanta radio audition. His recordings during the next two years were fairly conventional jump blues, like “Every Hour” and “Get Rich Quick”, neither of which made any commercial impression. In 1952 he moved to Houston where he recorded for Don Robey’s Peacock label. Initially he recorded with the backup groups the Deuces of Rhythm and the Tempo Toppers, though in 1955 he switched to fronting the Johnny Otis Orchestra for four sides. He toured small black nightclubs, performing mostly blues; his rock numbers were not well received.

Down in his luck, he sent a demo tape to Art Rupe of Specialty Records in L.A., who, as luck would have it, had been looking for a hard-edged voice like Penniman’s to front some New Orleans musicians. Rupe signed on “Bumps” Blackwell as the producer and with a Crescent City rhythm section, Little Richard entered the studio on September 14, 1955. One of the songs he cut was an old between-song filler piece called “Tutti Frutti” (with lyrics cleaned up by New Orleans writer Dorothy La Bostrie; one original line was “Tutti Frutti, good booty/If it don’t fit, don’t force it, you can grease it, make it easy”). Richard’s whooping, shouting vocals, sexy-dumb lyrics and wild piano banging on “Tutti Frutti” set the style for his future hits. The single sold to both black and white fans – over 3 million copies by 1968 – and its influence was incalculable. Out of Richard’s approximately 36 sides for Specialty, seven were gold: “Tutti Frutti” (#17), “Long Tall Sally” (#6), “Rip It Up” (#17) in 1956; “Lucille” (#21), “Jenny, Jenny” (#10) and “Keep a Knockin” (#8) in 1957; and “Good Golly Miss Molly” (#10, 1958). Penniman also appeared in three early rock & roll movies: “Don’t Knock the Rock” (1956), “The Girl Can’t Help It” – in which his salacious reading of the title song is a revelation (1956) and “Mister Rock ‘n’ Roll” (1957).

But in 1957 at the height of his success, Little Richard suddenly quit his rock career after a tour of Australia. He claimed that a vision of the apocalypse came to him in a dream and that he saw his own damnation. In his authorized biography he tells a story of a plane flight during which the overheated engines appeared in the darkness of night to be on fire. He prayed to God and promised that if the plane landed safely he would change his ways. A few days later, while performing outdoors, he caught a glimpse of the Russian satellite Sputnik and days after that, a plane he was scheduled to have flown in crashed. Interpreting these incidents as divine signs that he should change his ways, Richard entered Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, where he received a B.A. and was purportedly ordained a minister in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. (Richard has since claimed that he was never a minister). Specialty tried to keep his conversion a secret, issuing the hit “Keep Knockin’”, pieced together from half-finished sessions. In 1959 he recorded his first religious album, “God is Real”, which was reissued.

Little Richard did not return to rock until 1964. After a failed attempt to gain a major audience on the evangelical circuit with his gospel recordings, he tried to resurrect his rock following with the anachronistic and unsuccessful “Bama Lama Bama Loo” on Specialty in 1964. The world was already switching its attention to the newer sounds of the Beatles. (Ironically, Little Richard was one of Paul McCartney’s idols). Through the years, Little Richard mounted many unsuccessful comeback attempts on Vee-Jay, Modern, Okey and Brunswick.

His best shot came in the early ‘70s, when he got a contract with Reprise and recorded three R&B/Rock LPs – “The Rill Thing”, “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “Second Coming”, which garnered some fair critical notices and led to some recording sessions with Delaney and Bonnie and Canned Heat. Richard did some late-night talk shows and club dates during the early ‘70s, but by the decade’s close, he was again stressing his attachment to the church, preaching and singing gospel and renouncing rock & roll, drugs and his own homosexuality. Over the years, he has alluded to having embraced heterosexuality, but in 2000 he probably described his past most accurately when he told the Los Angeles Times: “I was what you called back in that day a freak. I was flamboyant in every direction. I’m glad I’m able to look back on it and say, ‘Thank you Lord’ and go on”.

The year 1984 saw the publication of “The Life and Times of Little Richard”, an authorized biography by Charles White. Incredibly frank, the book got plenty of attention for its juicy anecdotes (including a threesome with a stripper and Buddy Holly, and a mid-‘70s bout with drug addiction) and guilt-ridden accounts of his battle to tame his sexuality. “Homosexuality is contagious”, he is quoted as having said. “It’s not something you’re born with”. The book ends with a chapter-long sermon from Richard. Later he claimed that in some portions of the book he had been misquoted. He shares the copyright with Charles White and his longtime manager Robert “Bumps” Blackwell.

But one can never count Little Richard out of the spotlight for long and in 1985, at nearly age 60 he launched a formidable comeback with a featured role in the hit film, “Down and Out in Beverly Hills”: he also appeared in “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” and “Last Action Hero”. He made guest appearances on such popular television series as “Miami Vice”, “ Martin” and ”Full House” and has been a pitchman in commercials for a number of companies, including Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Charlie perfume. He contributed backing vocals to the U2 – B.B. King hit “When Love comes to Town” and duetted with Elton John on the latter’s “Duets” and Tanya Tucker on “Rhythm Country & Blues” (Somethin’ Else).

In a development that surely would surprise his first-generation fans, Little Richard has had his greatest latter-day recording success with a new generation: their grandchildren. After recording a rock-rap version of “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, for the all-star Pediatric Aids Foundation benefit album “For Our Children”, Richard recorded “Shake It All About”. It included children’s standards such as “On Top of Old Smokey” and his own “Keep a Knockin’” (complete with him yelling “Shut up!” to his background chorus of kids). He also appears on “Kermit Unpigged” (1994) and in Shelley Duvall’s award-winning children’s video, “Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme”. He also sang the theme song to the PBS children’s program, “The Magic School Bus”.

On into the 21st century, Little Richard remains one of the most recognized and quotable celebrities in the world. His life story was the subject of a made-for-TV movie in 2000, starring the actor Leon. The apparently ageless (and vegetarian) Richard continues to tour, his spirit and passion for the music - and himself – undiminished. As he announced from a stage shortly after his 66th birthday, “I’m still beautiful. I’m not conceited – I’m convinced!”

Little Richard was among the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1993 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He performed at Bill Clinton’s presidential inaugural in 1992. In his hometown of Macon he has been honored with a street bearing his name, Little Richard Penniman Boulevard. He has also received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award.

Presided over the 1987 Las Vegas marriage of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore at the Golden Nugget Hotel. Former brat packer Ally Sheedy was a bridesmaid.

Jimi Hendrix was a member of one of his touring bands, before Hendrix launched his solo career.

Life-long friend of James Brown since they were teenagers.

Has one leg three inches shorter than the other