“Hit us like lightning”: Stars pay tribute to Little Richard | Music



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Among the tributes to Little Richard, the rock and roll pioneer who died Saturday at age 87, he was praised for his composition, his musicality, his bold style, his status as a key figure in African-American history, and his work as a minister. who married celebrity couples.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ringo Starr, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Page, Brian Wilson, Patti Smith, Carole King and Steven van Zandt were among the musicians to pay tribute.

Bob Dylan wrote a passionate series of tweets about the man he called “my bright star and guiding light when he was just a boy.”

“He was the original spirit that moved me to do everything I would do,” Dylan said. “I played a few shows with him in Europe in the early 1990s and was able to spend a lot of time in his dressing room. He was always generous, kind and humble. And still dynamite as a performer and musician and you can still learn a lot from him.

“In his presence, he was always the same Little Richard that I first heard and was impressed growing up and was always the same boy. Of course it will live forever. But it’s like a part of your life is gone. “

Bryan Ferry, the lead singer for pop art band Roxy Music, spoke out of the sense of awe that Richard inspired in many aspiring rockers when he gained fame in the late 1950s, and said to the Guardian, “He hit me on the me and the rest of my generation like lightning. “

On social media, Jagger, 76, called Richard “the biggest inspiration from my early teens” and said that “his music still has the same raw electrical energy when you play it now as it did when it was first leaked on the music scene in the mid-50s.

“When [the Rolling Stones] on tour with him, I watched his movements every night and learned from him how to entertain and engage the public. “Jagger’s bandmate Richards said:” There will never be another. It was the true spirit of rock and roll, “while Ron Wood said,” I will miss you, God bless Little Richard ~ rest in peace. “

Jerry Lee Lewis, 85, said: “He will always live in my heart with his incredible talent and friendship! He was one of a kind and I will miss him very much. ”


I served Little Richard’s soul food brunch every Sunday for a year in Los Angeles. He gave me a cool bill of $ 100 every week

Ava DuVernay

Everyone agreed that Richard, whose real name was Richard Penniman, was a rock and roll pioneer, ranked with the true greats of the genre.

“RIP Little Richard,” said Van Zandt, a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and an actor on The Sopranos. “The man who invented rock and roll. Elvis [Presley] popularized by Chuck Berry was the narrator. Richard was the archetype.

Bruno Mars lit a Richard brand candle on Instagram with the title “I love you Little Richard”, while Oscar-winning film director Spike Lee said “Rest in peace with one of the true creators of rock and roll” and added a reference to “The advertisement I directed with Little Richard and Michael Jordan, 1991”.

Another director, Emmy winner Ava DuVernay wrote: “I served Little Richard’s soul food brunch every Sunday for a year while serving as a waitress at Aunt Kizzy’s Back Porch in Los Angeles.

“I was a university student. He tipped me $ 100 each week on a $ 75 breakfast with friends. This was 30 years ago. God help me a lot in his glory. “

Former First Lady Michelle Obama praised Richard’s “exuberance, his creativity, and his refusal to be more than himself.”

“Little Richard laid the foundation for generations of artists to follow him,” he said. “We are very lucky to have had it. Sending all my love to his family and friends today. “

Tom Jones posted images on Twitter of him and Richard performing Rip It Up on television together in 1970, saying that Richard “broke all the rules and was not afraid to show it.”

Other musicians recognized his influence on the music that arose from the rock and roll he played.

Joan Jett called him “the original rocker glam, and he was abused for being on the first wave. He forged a path for all of us who followed him.”

Meanwhile, some artists tweeted about how Richard married them, in his second and perhaps at first glance unlikely career as a Christian minister.

“Maureen and I are very honored to be her first marriage,” said Van Zandt. “We were lucky to meet him. Live forever in the underground garage.

Singer Cyndi Lauper wrote: “So sad that Little Richard passed away. She married me and my husband. He was truly one of the best rock and roll singers and one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He will be missed. “

Richards officiated Tom Petty’s second marriage, with Dana York. A statement posted on the Twitter account for Petty, who died in 2017, said “Having him there that day filled him and all attendees with joy, wonder and delight.”



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