TeachRock

“I am the innovator. I am the originator. I am the emancipator. I am the architect of Rock and Roll.” – Little Richard

A musical trailblazer, Little Richard’s proclamation of origination and innovation is not hyperbole – it’s a spirited pronouncement that, like his exuberant singing and piano playing, rings true. But don’t take our word for it, let Little Richard tell you in this TeachRock clip from a 1974 press conference.

As a Rock and Roll standard-bearer in songwriting, record production, and live performance, Little Richard’s magnetic persona fused his Gospel roots with the “swinging, tough, Southern beat that was coming out of New Orleans,” as explained in this TeachRock clip from our Soundbreaking lesson collection.

While building his house of Rock, Little Richard kept an arduous concert schedule that included tour dates with The Beatles that are examined in this TeachRock Math lesson.

For more than sixty years, one of Rock and Roll’s flashiest and most brilliant performers originated and innovated one of the most enduring musical legacies in American history, as detailed in TeachRock’s Little Richard Trace It Back biography.

Want to celebrate Little Richard even more during Black Music Month and beyond? Rock out while watching the new documentary, Little Richard: I Am Everything.