Little Richard: Torn Between God and The Devil’s Music
In 1955, Little Richard, along with his naughty “Tutti Frutti” and flamboyant look took the world by storm. He was glamorous before the glitters entered the world in the 70s, the “King and Queen” of rock n roll before Elvis, and a symbol of queerness before David Bowie. Richard was the ultimate inspiration for rock icons like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Elton John the world would later know, but he was also a man who walked down the stage at the height of his music career and traded fame for faith.
The Night He Gave Up Rock N Roll
It was during a two-week tour in 1957 when Little Richard saw the very first Russian Sputnik go up in the air in flame. In an auditorium filled with 40,000 people, the moment brought him to the realization of the evil he had done. “It really shook my mind, I got up from the piano and said, ‘This is it. I am through. I am leaving show business to go back to God,” he said in The Life and Times of Little Richard, the Quasar of Rock, the 1984 authorized biography written by Charles White and Robert A. Blackwell.
Born in a deeply religious family and raised as one of the twelve children of preacher uncles, Little Richard dreamed of becoming one when he grew up.
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