A new documentary on rock’s founding father Little Richard is heading to theaters in New York and LA on April 21.
Little Richard: I Am Everything premiered at Sundance. It details the life of the man born Richard Penniman, and how he pioneered a new form of gender-bending showmanship that was later adopted by everyone from Mick Jagger, Elton John and David Bowie to Prince and Harry Styles.
His music, meanwhile, influenced generations, from The Beatles, Robert Plant and AC/DC, to Patti Smith and Michael Jackson, to Bruno Mars and Chris Cornell.
Jagger is interviewed in the documentary about Richard’s influence, as is Emmy-winning actor and singer Billy Porter.
The documentary also covers Richard’s internal battle between rock and roll and religion, which led him to temporarily abandon secular music and switch to gospel in the late ’50s, and become ordained as a minister in 1970.
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