Seeing reports that Little Richard has died, though so far nothing from a reliable source.
He's been ill for a number of years, so it wouldn't be a surprise, but I still very much hope he's alive and as well as possible with his chronic conditions.

Damn. It's been confirmed. RIP Little Richard https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/little-richard-dead-48505/

Richard was arguably the most important and talented performer of the fifties (you can argue between him and a couple of others), and was also triply-marginalised -- disabled, black, and queer.

I use the word queer because depending on which of his statements you weigh most heavily, he was either a gay man, a bi man, or a closeted bit trans woman (who always used he/him pronouns). Terminology changes, and people's self-identity changes.

He was often tormented by the conflict between that and his fundamentalist religion. I hope that in his last years he found some peace.

But all those marginalisations and conflicts fed into his music. He was a complex person, and those complexities came out in the most powerful vocals of any singer of his generation, maybe ever.

Without Little Richard, not only are there no Beatles or Rolling Stones or Captain Beefheart, but also no Bowie or Bolan or Prince or Alice Cooper. No rock music that plays with the liminal spaces in society's attitudes to gender and sexuality.

But leaving aside his influence, which is incalculable, what remains more than anything else are those classic recordings. So many of them. And not just the obvious ones, but things like "Ooh! My Soul!" which was never a big hit, but may be his best performance.

He will be missed.

(Also, there are *so many* mistakes in that Rolling Stone obit. He wasn't boyhood friends with Redding who was 9 years younger, he didn't include Tutti Frutti on his demo tape to Specialty, he returned to rock in 62, not 64. Please fact-check things, journos!)