Regrets of rock and roll icon

For a trailblazing musician credited with laying the foundations for rock and roll, his regret was remarkable.

“If I had my life over again, I would be Little Richard the Preacher, standing out on street corners, declaring God’s Word,” the iconic US singer, pianist and songwriter told Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN) three years before his death.

Instead, for decades after ‘Tutti Frutti’ and ‘Long Tall Sally’ became his first hits, Richard Wayne Perriman fell into music stardom’s excesses.

In 1962, he was charged with sexual misconduct and, by the 1970s, developed a cocaine addiction costing $1,000 a day.

Fame, perhaps, had gone to the head of a man who was the lead act when playing on the same bill as The Beatles and Rolling Stones.

Stardom, however, was placed in context by a chastening 1977 during which his brother died of a heart attack, a nephew was involved in a shooting and two close friends were murdered. 

Suddenly thoughtful about his own life, he gave up drugs, alcohol and rock and roll, returning to the Christian ministry he’d explored years before, when he’d formed the Little Richard Evangelistic Team in 1958 and travelled across the country to preach.

The tragedies brought his faith back and, in 1979, he released the gospel album God’s Beautiful City.

With the belief that rock and roll could be used for good or evil, Little Richard returned to the business in 1985.

… story continues