Rock musician. Born Richard Wayne Penniman, on December 5, 1932 (some sources say 1935), in Macon, Georgia. The third of twelve children in a devout Seventh Day Adventist family, Richard sang and played piano in church choirs and with gospel groups from the time he was very young. At age 13, his parents reportedly forced him to leave home— Richard claimed in a 1982 television interview that they kicked him out because of his homosexuality—and he moved in with another family who ran a Macon nightclub.

In 1951, after auditioning for a radio station in Atlanta, Richard signed a recording contract with RCA. For the next several years, he recorded and performed fairly traditional blues music, first with RCA and then with the independent Peacock label in Houston, Texas, where he sang with two different back-up groups, the Deuces of Rhythm and the Tempo Toppers, before becoming the frontman for the Johnny Otis orchestra in 1955. In September 1955, Los Angeles' Specialty Records brought Richard to New Orleans to record with a group of musicians. As “Little Richard,” he cut a new rock & roll version of an old filler song, “Tutti-Frutti,” adding his own wild falsetto voice and manic piano playing and creating a breakthrough single that sold three million copies and paved the way for Little Richard's influential rock & roll career.

Over the next three years, he sold over 18 million records, including six more huge hit singles: “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip it Up” in 1956; “Lucille,” “Jenny, Jenny,” and “Keep a Knockin' ” in 1957; and “Good Golly, Miss Molly” in 1958. In 1957, however, the flamboyant rock star unexpectedly quit at the peak of his success, claiming that an apocalyptic vision had convinced him to renounce rock & roll and concentrate on his spiritual salvation. He also renounced drugs and even his own homosexuality, implying that he had reformed to heterosexuality. In 1960, he was ordained a minister in the Seventh Day Adventist church.

In 1964, after attempting unsuccessfully to build up a following as a gospel singer, Richard resumed his rock & roll career; unfortunately, he found that many of his former fans had moved on to newer rock performers like the Beatles. His considerable influence on these later artists was unquestionable, especially when he toured England with the Beatles and another superstar rock band, the Rolling Stones. In the early 1970s, he recorded several critically acclaimed blues/rock albums—including The Second Coming (1971) and The King of Rock & Roll (1971)—and gave a memorable performance at the 1970 Toronto Pop Festival, footage of which was later featured in D. A. Pennebaker's documentary film of the event, Keep On Rockin' (1972). Later in the decade, however, he reemphasized his commitment to the church and again stopped recording and performing rock & roll.

In 1985, a year after the publication of The Life and Times of Little Richard, a tell-all authorized biography by Charles White, the unpredictable Richard launched another comeback. After appearing in the film Down and Out in Beverly Hills, alongside Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss, and Bette Midler, he went on to make a number of commercials for companies as diverse as Taco Bell and Charlie perfume (appearing with the supermodel Cindy Crawford in a televised spot for the latter product). In 1986, Richard was inducted into the brand new Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a charter member, alongside fellow legends James Brown, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Fats Domino, among others.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Little Richard found a good deal of recording success in a new market—children's music. He recorded a rock/rap version of the classic “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” for an all-star Pediatric AIDS benefit album and in 1992 released Shake It All About, an album of children's favorites performed in the singular Little Richard style. He also performed at the January 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton. In 1999, Richard had a cameo role in the feature film, Mystery, Alaska. In early 2000, NBC will air a television movie of his life story, entitled Little Richard.