Huey ‘Piano’ Smith, session man and hit maker, dead at 89
February 20, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Huey "Piano” Smith, a beloved New Orleans session man who backed Little Richard, Lloyd Price and other early rock stars and with his own group made the party favorites "Don't You Just Know It" and "Rockin' Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu," has died.
Louisiana services set for rock pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis
October 31, 2022 GMTFERRIDAY, La. (AP) — The family of legendary rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis has announced details of memorial services planned this weekend for his birthplace, Ferriday, Louisiana.
Lewis, known for hits such as “Great Balls of Fire” and many others, died Friday at age 87.
Jerry Lee Lewis, outrageous rock ‘n’ roll star, dies at 87
October 28, 2022 GMTJerry Lee Lewis, the untamable rock ‘n’ roll pioneer whose outrageous talent, energy and ego collided on such definitive records as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and sustained a career otherwise upended by personal scandal, died Friday morning at 87.
Art Rupe, pioneering record executive, dead at 104
April 17, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Music executive Art Rupe, whose Specialty Records was a premier label during the formative years of rock ‘n roll and helped launch the careers of Little Richard, Sam Cooke and many others, has died.
Charles Connor, drummer for Little Richard, dies at age 86
August 1, 2021 GMTLOS ANGELES (AP) — Charles Connor, known for being Little Richard’s drummer who performed with other music greats including James Brown and Sam Cooke, has died. He was 86.
Connor’s daughter, Queenie Connor Sonnefeld, said her father died peacefully in his sleep early Saturday while under hospice care at his home in Glendale, California.
Grammys’ in memoriam especially long, grim in pandemic year
March 15, 2021 GMTLOS ANGELES (AP) — Brandi Carlile paid tribute to John Prine, Bruno Mars celebrated Little Richard and Lionel Richie honored Kenny Rogers during an in memoriam segment on Sunday night's Grammy Awards that featured an especially long list of names after a year of the coronavirus pandemic...
Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020
December 31, 2020 GMTIn a year defined by a devastating pandemic, the world lost iconic defenders of civil rights, great athletes and entertainers who helped define their genres.
Many of their names hold a prominent place in the collective consciousness — RBG, Kobe, Maradona, Eddie Van Halen, Little Richard, Sean Connery, Alex Trebek, Christo — but pandemic restrictions often limited the public's ability to mourn their loss in a year that saw more than a million people die from the coronavirus.
Little Richard song to introduce ‘Monday Night Football’
September 11, 2020 GMTESPN is hoping that one of the architects of rock n' roll can bring some new energy to their “Monday Night Football” show with fewer fans in the stands this year.
The new season starting Monday will feature a new version of Little Richard's hit “Rip It Up” featuring new instrumentals and backup vocals from the Virginia-based band Butcher Brown.
Little Richard laid to rest at Alabama alma mater
May 21, 2020 GMTHUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Little Richard was remembered not just as a rock ‘n’ roll pioneer but a man of generosity and faith at a memorial service at his alma mater where he was laid to rest Wednesday...
Review: Victor Wainwright starts a party on ‘Memphis Loud’
May 20, 2020 GMTVictor Wainwright and the Train, “Memphis Loud” (Ruf)
Here’s an hour-long set to help fill the void created by all of those canceled summer music festivals...
Little Richard to be buried at historically black college
May 15, 2020 GMTNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard will be buried at Oakwood University, a historically black university in Huntsville, Alabama.
Gerald Kibble, director of Oakwood Memorial Gardens, said the private funeral will be held Wednesday and will not be open to the public.
Little Richard, flamboyant rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, dead at 87
May 9, 2020 GMTNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Little Richard, one of the chief architects of rock ‘n’ roll whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday after battling bone cancer...
Jagger, Dylan, Quincy Jones react to death of Little Richard
May 9, 2020 GMTReaction to the death of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard, who died Saturday at 87...
Community commits $90,000 for Little Richard’s boyhood home
October 3, 2018 GMTMACON, Ga. (AP) — Little Richard's hometown in Georgia has committed $90,000 to help open a community resource center at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee's boyhood home.
The Macon-Bibb County Commission approved the funding Tuesday.
The days the music died: A look at funerals of the greats
August 29, 2018 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Elvis, Whitney, Prince, Biggie and, now, Aretha: The funerals and public memorials of music royalty have been as varied as the work they created, from small family affairs to days of tributes as huge in death as they lived their lives...
Fats Domino dies at 89; gave rock music a New Orleans flavor
October 26, 2017 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The godfather of rock and roll. A performer who always gave all he had. A man who loved his city and his neighborhood...
Part of beach motel where black acts once stayed torn down
September 13, 2016 GMTMYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — A section of a South Carolina motel frequented by black entertainers during the days of segregation has been demolished although there are plans to create a museum in some of the remaining rooms on the Myrtle Beach property.