Little Richard, one of the original architects of the rock sound, has said that he just may retire.
Not that he’s been that active. The singer has done a few shows over the years but none for over a year. At 80, he says that retirement is certainly an option as he “doesn’t feel like doing anything now.”
After nearly sixty years of recording, Richard couldn’t be blamed for finally taking it easy, even if he has just traded in music for clothes designing and, of course, his faith.
Richard was only an active secular recording artists for six years and a hitmaking rocker for two before leaving music. His Tutti Frutti (1955 / #17 Pop / #2 R&B) was one of the first wild rockers to become a mainstream hit and, over the next three years, he scored fourteen top ten R&B songs and four that made it to the same level on the Pop charts (Long, Tall Sally (1956 / #6 Pop / #1 R&B), Jenny, Jenny (1957 / #10 Pop / #2 R&B), Keep a Knockin’ (1957 / #8 Pop / #2 Rock), Good Golly Miss Molly (1958 / #10 Pop / #4 R&B)).
In 1957, Richard announced in the middle of a concert in Sydney, Australia that he was going to become a minister. While he did return to pop music periodically over the rest of his career, he never found the same success. Still, his legacy was set in stone from those first few wild years.
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