Entertainment
Rock ‘N Roll Pioneer Little Richard Dead At 87

EKOMIAMIBLOG – Little Richard, the flamboyant musician considered a founding father of the rock ‘n roll era, has died.
The self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano, and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, Richard was 87 years old.
Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated Press that Little Richard died Saturday morning. Minson said he also spoke to Little Richard’s son and brother.

Minson added that the family is not releasing the cause of death.
Born Richard Penniman, Little Richard was one of rock ‘n’ roll’s founding fathers who helped shatter the color line on the music charts, joining Chuck Berry and Fats Domino in bringing what was once called “race music” into the mainstream. Richard’s hyperkinetic piano playing, coupled with his howling vocals and hairdo, made him an implausible sensation — a gay, black man celebrated across America during the buttoned-down Eisenhower era.
He sold more than 30 million records worldwide, and his influence on other musicians was equally staggering, from the Beatles and Otis Redding to Creedence Clearwater Revival and David Bowie. In his personal life, he wavered between raunch and religion, alternately embracing the Good Book and outrageous behavior.
“Little Richard? That’s rock ‘n’ roll,” Neil Young, who heard Richard’s riffs on the radio in Canada, told biographer Jimmy McDonough. “Little Richard was great on every record.”
It was 1956 when his classic “Tutti Frutti” landed like a hand grenade in the Top 40, exploding from radios and off turntables across the country. It was highlighted by Richard’s memorable call of “wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom.”
A string of hits followed, providing the foundation of rock music: “Lucille,” “Keep A Knockin’,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Good Golly Miss Molly.” More than 40 years after the latter charted, Bruce Springsteen was still performing “Good Golly Miss Molly” live.
The Beatles’ Paul McCartney imitated Richard’s signature yelps — perhaps most notably in the “Wooooo!” from the hit “She Loves You.” Ex-bandmate John Lennon covered Richard’s “Rip It Up” and “Ready Teddy” on the 1975 “Rock and Roll” album.
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in 1986, he was among the charter members with Elvis Presley, Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke and others.
Few were quicker to acknowledge Little Richard’s seminal role than Richard himself. The flamboyant singer claimed he paved the way for Elvis, provided Mick Jagger with his stage moves and conducted vocal lessons for McCartney.
“I am the architect of rock ‘n’ roll!” Little Richard crowed at the 1988 Grammy Awards as the crowd rose in a standing ovation. “I am the originator!”
Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, during the Great Depression, one of 12 children. He was ostracized because he was effeminate and suffered a small deformity: his right leg was shorter than his left.
The family was religious, and Richard sang in local churches with a group called the Tiny Tots. The tug-of-war between his upbringing and rock ‘n’ roll excess tormented Penniman throughout his career.
Penniman was performing with bands by the age of 14, but there were problems at home over his sexual orientation. His father beat the boy and derided him as “half a son.”
Richard left home to join a minstrel show run by a man known as Sugarloaf Sam, occasionally appearing in drag.
In late 1955, Little Richard recorded the bawdy “Tutti Frutti,” with lyrics that were sanitized by a New Orleans songwriter. It went on to sell 1 million records over the next year.
When Little Richard’s hit was banned by many white-owned radio stations, white performers like Pat Boone and Elvis Presley did cover versions that topped the charts.
Little Richard went Hollywood with an appearance in “Don’t Knock the Rock.” But his wild lifestyle remained at odds with his faith, and a conflicted Richard quit the business in 1957 to enroll in a theological school and get married.
Richard remained on the charts when his label released previously recorded material. And he recorded a gospel record, returning to his roots.
A 1962 arrest for a homosexual encounter in a bus station restroom led to his divorce and return to performing.
He mounted three tours of England between 1962 and 1964, with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones serving as opening acts. Back in the States, he put together a band that included guitarist Jimi Hendrix — and later fired Hendrix when he was late for a bus.
In 1968, Richard hit Las Vegas and relaunched his career. Within two years, he had another hit single and made the cover of Rolling Stone.
By the mid-1970s, Richard was battling a $1,000-a-day cocaine problem and once again abandoned his musical career. He returned to religion, selling Bibles and renouncing homosexuality. For more than a decade, he vanished.
“If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody,” Richard said.
But he returned, in 1986, in spectacular fashion. Little Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and appeared in the movie “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”
A Little Richard song from the soundtrack, “Great Gosh A’Mighty,” even put him back on the charts for the first time in more than 15 years. Little Richard was back to stay, enjoying another dose of celebrity that he fully embraced.
Macon, Georgia, named a street after its favorite son. And Little Richard was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In August 2002, he announced his retirement from live performing. But he continued to appear frequently on television, including a humorous appearance on a 2006 commercial for GEICO insurance.
Richard had hip surgery in November 2009 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and asked fans at the time to pray for him. He lived in the Nashville area at the time.
Entertainment
Taaooma reacts to parent’s divorce (video)

Nigerian comedienne,Apaokagi Adedoyin Maryam, popularly known as Taaooma in her latest skit, made a funny rendition of her parents getting a divorce.
Tao as she is fondly called was trying to weigh into whatever marital issues the duo is experiencing, and proffer a solution, but her mum landed her the usual slap to reset her brain.
Watch the video which features Nigerian comedian Lasisi Elenu and MC Lively here.
Entertainment
Davido and Lil Baby Share Video for New Song “So Crazy”: Watch

Nigerian artiste Davido and Atlanta rapper Lil Baby have come together for the new song “So Crazy.” The track, produced by Nick Papz and Xander, arrives with a music video directed by David Wept. It was filmed in Los Angeles.
Watch below.
“I’ve known Lil Baby for quite a while, and I think it’s important that I point this out: When you are collaborating on a record, you need to make sure that the relationship is good outside of music,” Davido said in a statement. “I feel like that is when you make the best music.”
“So Crazy” will appear on Davido’s next album A Better Time, which is set for release this Friday, November 13 (via Davido Worldwide Entertainment/Sony Music UK/RCA Records). The LP follows last year’s A Good Time.
Entertainment
As Bad As The Pandemic Was, It’s Given Us ‘A Better Time’, Davido Reveals!

Davido had an interview with Rolling Stone on the 5th of November 2020. He spoke about how the pandemic influenced the creation of his highly anticipated album ‘A Better Time‘ and adapting to the new state of things.
During his interview Rolling Stone, Davido expressed the negative and positive impact the pandemic had on his career. He said:
Also Read: Chioma Shares Lovely Photos With Davido
I’ve recorded so much music. The only thing I could do was get in the studio. That’s one of the positive things that the pandemic brought to my career. It made me focus more, definitely, being in the studio, having nowhere to go. The only place I could be was at home. So I just made sure I was just recording and recording. I probably recorded like two albums already, apart from A Better Time.
O.B.O (Omo Baba Olowo) as he is also fondly called by friends and acquaintances, expressed how he misses being able to perform physically to a live audience and how he is adapting to the new wave of things as an artist.
My most favorite thing about being a musician and making music is being on the road, being able to perform, being able to go on tour. But we’re learning to live with it. The other day I did a Livestream-type show. It was a link you had to click and watch. It was pretty cool, but it’s not really the same. Social media helps cross that bridge, but at the same time, it’s just not the same.
The FEM crooner revealed how he stumbled on the A Better Time album, as he intentions were to promote his previous album ‘A Good Time‘ via tours but then the pandemic happened and then he maximized the free times to create music: He said:
I didn’t plan the album. I just dropped A Good Time, almost exactly a year ago. My plan was to tour with the A Good Time album. Do America and go to Europe, and then I was meant to go to Asia, Australia, and do mad festivals. That being said, we had to cancel the whole tour, obviously, because of the pandemic. So I was like, “You know what, I’m not about to just sit at home and not do nothing.” So I got back in the studio, and funny enough, I was making better music than I had previously dropped, and we just kept going. Before I knew it I had 20 songs in the studio, all done and recorded and finished. Then I was like, “Should I just put it out?”
Davido went further to say:
I was thinking of putting out like a little quarantine playlist. But then, I was like, “Nah, I think I want to release another body of work.” My sophomore album was called A Good Time, so, obviously, A Better Time, it’s a better album. You know what I’m saying? I took my time. Better visuals, better production, everything as a whole package. I’ve never really had time to refocus, sit down, and record a project, because I’m always on tour. I’m always all over the place. For the first time I had the opportunity to sit down and focus with my producers and take our time on each and every song.
Read his full interview with Rolling Stone
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