FILE – In this Aug. 19, 2004 file photo, Little Richard performs at Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, NY. Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, has died Saturday, May 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Ed Betz, File)
Little Richard has died at the age of 87. He was the founding father of rock and roll.
According to reports he died at his Tennessee home on Saturday.
Little Richard’s bass guitarist, Charles Glenn, told TMZ he had been ill for two months.
Richard’s son, Danny Penniman, confirmed his death to Rolling Stone , but said the cause was unknown.