Little Richard leaves behind a huge legacy
Thank you for your tribute to Little Richard last week after his death. He was one of the pioneers of rock ’n’ roll, along with Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley – and the effect these people had on breaking down racial barriers cannot be overstated. Little Richard’s legacy goes far beyond music.
He was also a pioneer when it came to how men were expected to look and behave. He wore make-up and was outrageously camp. David Bowie gets a lot a credit for making make-up and sexual ambiguity acceptable, but Little Richard was doing it 15 years earlier.
D. Small, Liverpool
Sir Paul McCartney said last week that ‘without Little Richard there would have been no Beatles’. I find that musicians are very honest about who inspired them. Other people could learn from this.
C. Raymond, Lancashire