The CNN Film "Little Richard: I Am Everything" tells the story of rock n' roll's Black, queer origins. It illustrates clearly just how the revolutionary pop icon's career laid the groundwork for everyone from the Rolling Stones to Lil Nas X.
Richard would have stood out in any era. But in the 1950s, when he came to prominence, he was like no other: a flamboyant, makeup-wearing, piano-playing black man who personified the "devil's music" to establishment guardians.
He also represented something else.
"Richard opened the door. He brought the races together," said arranger H.B. Barnum in Charles White's 1984 biography "The Life and Times of Little Richard."
"When I first went on the road, there were many segregated audiences. With Richard, although they still had the audiences segregated in the building, they were there TOGETHER. And most times before the end of the night, they would all be mixed together."
A screaming, preening, scene-stealing wild man of early rock 'n' roll with hits like "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally," Richard died in 2020 at the age of 87.
The new documentary about his life will air on CNN on Monday, September 4, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
