Little Richard, a singer who is best known for hits like “Tutti Fruity” and “Good Golly Miss Molly,” passed away on Saturday at the age of 87.

The musician’s death was confirmed to Rolling Stone by his lawyer Bill Sobel, who said that he died of bone cancer.

Little Richard was born Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5, 1932, and he went on to become one of the founders of rock and roll. He burst onto the music scene in the 1950s and he remained a hitmaker ever since, selling 30 million records worldwide.

“Little Richard? That’s rock ‘n’ roll,” said Neil Young, who listened to Richard while growing up in Canada. “Little Richard was great on every record.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Ujb6lJ_mM&feature=emb_title

“I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it,” Elton John told Rolling Stone in 1973. “I didn’t ever want to be anything else. I’m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder.”

Richard quickly became known for his stage persona, which included pompadours, androgynous makeup, and glass-bead shirts. In 1989, Richard himself said that the singer Prince was effectively a new version of him.

“Prince is the Little Richard of his generation,” Richard told Joan Rivers in 1989, before addressing Prince directly while looking at the camera. “I was wearing purple before you was wearing it!”

The singer’s talent and stage presence quickly put him on the same level as the likes of other stars like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.

“That’s what the kids in America were excited about,” he said in 1970. “They don’t want the falsehood — they want the truth.”

“It is with a heavy heart that I ask for prayers for the family of my lifelong friend and fellow rocker ‘Little Richard,’” Lewis said in a statement after his death. “He will live on always in my heart with his amazing talent and his friendship! He was one of a kind and I will miss him dearly.”

Richard was also a devoted Christian who released various gospel songs throughout his career as well. There will never be another one like Little Richard, and he will be dearly missed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_dsy2Z4m00

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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