Little Richard Set the Mold by Breaking It
The “Tutti Frutti” singer and rock-and-roll pioneer, dead at age 87, embodied the word <em>irrepressible</em>.
Little Richard, the rock-and-roll force who embodiedthe word , quit music in 1957. Not yet 25, he’d already recorded most of the chattering, licentious classics—“Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally,” “The Girl Can't Help It”—that anchored the career now being mourned upon his . His schedule was full of worldwide-tour dates and film and TV appearances. But he started seeing eerie signs: fiery plumes from a plane’s engines; a red blaze streaking in the sky over one of his concerts (perhaps, it’s been speculated, from the. He took heed by leaving rock and roll and joining the ministry.
