American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (died 2020)

Little Richard

Richard Wayne Penniman, better known by his stage name Little Richard, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Referred to as the "Architect of Rock and Roll", Richard's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding backbeat and powerful raspy vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll. Richard's innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk.

Born

1932

December 5

Died

2020

Era

1930s

Country

—

About

Little, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1932 Born
2020 Died

Also on December 5

What else happened on this day, through history

-63 Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
633 Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.
1033 The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multiple cities across the Levant, triggers a tsunami and kills many.
1082 Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated, most likely by his brother, Berenguer Ramon II.

See all of December 5 →

The world in 1932

When Little arrived

april 24 Benny Rothman leads the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms in the United Kingdom.
april 5 Dominion of Newfoundland: Ten thousand rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
august 2 The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
august 24 Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).

Read the year 1932 →

Same-day contemporaries

Also born on December 5

Walt Disney 1901–1966 American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (born 1901) Alberto Nisman 1963–2015 Argentinian lawyer (died 2015) Arthur Currie 1875–1933 Canadian general (died 1933) Francisco Javier Arana 1905–1949 Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state (died 1949) J. J. Cale 1938– American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013) Jeroen Krabbé 1944– Dutch actor, director, and producer Johannes Heesters 1903–2011 Dutch-German entertainer (born 1903) John Jellicoe 1859–1935 1st Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, 2nd Governor-General of New Zealand (died 1935) Józef Piłsudski 1867–1935 Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (died 1935)

See everything on December 5 →

Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1932

Alfonso Arau 1932– Mexican actor and director Athol Fugard 1932–2025 South African-American actor, director, and playwright (died 2025) Benigno Aquino Jr. 1932–1983 Filipino journalist and politician (born 1932) Christopher Lasch 1932–1994 American historian and critic (born 1932) Derek Taylor 1932–1997 English journalist and author (died 1997) Don Valentine 1932– American venture capitalist (died 2019) Fernando Botero 1932–2023 Colombian painter and sculptor (died 2023) Francis Arinze 1932– Nigerian cardinal Hassan al-Turabi 1932–2016 Sudanese activist and politician (died 2016)

Read about the year 1932 →

Keep going

More to explore

Little's birthday December 5 Little's zodiac Sagittarius When Little arrived 1932