Here, one expert describes Little Richard singing gospel on the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 1983. (SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING") ...

LITTLE RICHARD: (Singing) Well, long, tall Sally, she's built for speed. She got everything that Uncle John need, oh, baby.

DEGGANS: Born Richard Penniman in Macon, Ga., in 1932, Little Richard was openly gay from a young age, kicked out of his family home by a father who expected him to be more masculine.

DEGGANS: Born Richard Penniman in Macon, Ga., in 1932, Little Richard was openly gay from a young age, kicked out of his family home by a father who expected him to be more masculine. Performing on ...

When Little Richard performed, he didn’t just sing and dance — he howled, commanding the stage like a peacock on display. His live show became legend, as an unceasingly energetic Richard ...

When Richard was fourteen, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Queen Mother of Rock and Roll—shown in a couple of exuberant archival performance clips—saw him singing backstage when she did a gig in ...

Little Richard was at the epicenter of this shift, playing his alchemic, ground-breaking rock ‘n’ roll music to integrated crowds when the country was still in the grip of Jim Crow-era norms.