Little Richard Says He Isn't Gay Anymore | Letterman

it is impossible to imagine what rock and roll would sound like if our next guest had never been born along with Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry he is one of the Undisputed Giants of Rock From The Day He recorded Tutti Frutti in 1955 his influence has been enormous his life has been just as exciting as his music and will talk to him about both tonight please welcome ladies and gentlemen Little Richard Howard [Music] thank you thank you very much for being here in the the very beginning of the show I made a statement which uh I think is a pretty fair one let me know what you think of it if you hadn't come along or maybe rock and roll would have started differently or later I'm sure it would have started sooner or later I um I don't believe it would have got started at all in my home in my hometown Macon Georgia where I'm from I've never heard in the rock and roll music before it was swinging suede with salmon K when I was a little boy yeah how old were you when you were listening to Sammy k I really didn't listen to him uh uh but I had gotten tired of hearing about him and so what I did I started playing the piano and I made up Tutti Frutti and I started I sung two to three for many years before I recorded it because everybody thought it was crazy you know why Baba Loom up a lot bam boom yeah didn't nobody know what it meant and I didn't either yeah and so I decided that I should have put that on record yeah uh you you uh were in 1957 how long had you been performing as Little Richard at that point uh I had been performing as Little Richard from um oh from a little boy yeah from a little boy I was singing around Macon Georgia beating on the doorsteps I would go around from house to house and beat on the steps and people would give me a quarter a dime of 50 cents but by 1957 you were an established oh yeah rock and roll entity yeah and you were touring in Australia all over the world and something what happened in Australia you just decided that's it I'm not gonna do it anymore well what happened uh when I was in Australia I then during that period I stopped and went to school you know I've never made this type of money today you know I was making 15 a week in Macon and all of a sudden I'm making ten thousand dollars an hour so I read I went back to school to learn how to count to read because I didn't know how I needed to know how to handle the money I had a lot of managers that was handling it a whole lot taking it all leaving me nothing I didn't even know how to count for nothing that they left so I went back to school to study so uh and what did but at that time did you get into religion or was it uh yes I um well I've always been religiously in clown you know my mother in Macon Georgia my mother has 12 kids and um I would have to go to church in order to go to the movie I would have to go to church Sunday morning the Baptist Church in that evening I would go to the movie but I've always loved God you know in in my hometown if you didn't love God you didn't have nothing because it was so Prejudice back in that time you know I had to do what I was doing in order to survive yeah uh what do you mean had to do what you were doing uh well you know when I was saying rock and roll they at that time they were called black music race music when I saw a song rock and roll I was on RSA Victor before Elvis Presley but they wouldn't put me on RCA they put me on Camden so when I would wear makeup they would let me sing for the white girls when I put on eyelashes and all that they would let me sing but when I went as a straight dude they wouldn't let me sing I wonder why is that well they thought I wanted the girls so if I was came out the straight guy they wouldn't let me say but when I came out with all the makeup on and all the eyelashes and all the hair they said Richard is a good boy I know it was a good man but I was a good boy now who is they that you're talking about here uh some of the whites in Macon who I'm from I came from a little town you know it was real Prejudice back in that time now this is as I recall my memory of you is you were a A peculiar appearing performer you were not uh the guy running the 7-Eleven well maybe you were uh but you looked strange you know well uh uh uh it was strange because then nobody else have nerve enough to wear what I was wearing yeah I believe a lot of people wanted to look like I looked but they didn't know how to put it on yeah yeah uh uh uh I think they're doing that period that there was a lot of people that would love to have been phlegm born you know just like kiss and and Jimi Hendrix which was my guitar player he started out with me Billy Preston James Brown was my vocalist Otis Redding uh all the Beatles came with me they started with me Mick Jagger uh all these people started with me so you I mean now taking another turn here you really did have a dramatic impact and a great deal of influence on what would later become the Mainstays of rock enrollment I was the architect yeah of raw but my other question is if you were if you were had these religious Roots wasn't it kind of a a tearing circumstance for you to be appearing um in eye makeup and so forth and then also be a devout Baptist uh well I wasn't a Baptists in those days probably didn't want women wearing makeup oh well in those days some of them to know what they was wearing themselves what happened is I wasn't a really a religious person I was a young boy I wanted to be famous so bad and I really wanted a Cadillac Lord price Lord price came to my hometown and he had a long he had a Cadillac and so I wanted to sing and get in that Cadillac I wanted to be famous for one purpose together the longest Cadillac in my hometown was owned by the funeral home and you had to die to ride yeah it has no fun and I was determined not to die all right we're going to continue with Little Richard we'll be back in a minute or two presidents gentleman approaches Little Richard and that was uh that's one of your songs right there wasn't it yeah that's one of my Lucille that's Lucille yeah and have these songs made you a wealthy wealthy man well it should have oh this is your managers again oh my managers are very rich sitting on Heels some of them falling off the hills now the storms are pushing someone off uh but uh I made a lot of money but I was cheated I was used I was exploited you know the fellow came to Macon Georgia and got me and told me he'll make me a start I want to be a star more than I got the money yeah so he's rich I didn't get rich from it but you're doing okay now though God is good to me God is a good I'm Not Raven Ike no I know that uh uh um but God has been good you know because I don't tell people they're gonna have no pot in the Sky by and buy I've had enough pie down here when I go to heaven I'm just going to be with Jesus let me ask you about one thing and then we have some videotape of you in action uh when you were a young boy you were tossed out of your own home eh yes how what what how does this happen well my daddy we had 12 kids my dad his name is Charles Penniman and we called him bud but I wouldn't obey my father I didn't obey my father I didn't do what he wanted me to do and so he told me I had to get out he said Richard you I want I was gay and and he says that I wanted seven boys and you're messing it up and my brother's name was Charles so I would go out in the yard and call him I had a high voice I said Charles he said I'm gonna kill you tonight I'm gonna kill you because I was really flamboyant so my my people didn't like it so my dad said you either follow this rule or get out so I got out because I wanted to wear all of my Stones how old are you when you hit the road then when he tossed you out I was old enough to go in the streets because I had to because I had to find a place my mother didn't want me to go I was about 17 yeah is your father still alive no dad is dead he didn't live to see me my fame or nothing and did you ever get this worked out or was it the problem oh no but God gave me the victory I'm not gay now but you know I was gay all my life I believe I was one of the first gay people to come out but God let me know that he made Adam be with Eve not Steve you keep saying one provocative thing after another you used to be gay but now you're not I'm not I'm a man for the first time in my life yeah I know how you feel now uh this is this is getting more and more fascinating with each new turn uh there is about 90 different things I would like to ask you now we can't ask you 90 different things I I have to ask you this though uh do you ever uh one time uh Mike and Johnny Carson get out of his chair yes I took an a costume on for him to put on and I told him I wanted to do something I'd never done before and I ran through the audience and I told him I've always wanted to host the show and I asked him up and he let me get up he got up I just I took his seat yes I did I did yeah uh we should I guess establish now what you're doing we we've mentioned what you have done and what you mean in music history what are you doing now well I'm an evangelist now uh David I travel over the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I became a drug addict I was on heroin I was a angel dust everything Asic and my brother uh I had four people to die one night I was appearing at Magic Mountain and a friend of mine felt dead I had another friend of mine that I went to his house to get some cocaine my birthday is December 5th on my birthday he fell did I had another friend of mine that uh some fellas put in the trunk he cut him up with a butcher knife I can Tina Turner had an engagement in Miami and I went to Tina's place my brother fell dead and then I made a vow to God that I wanted to do something uh in his service and God said what shall he profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul so I was determined to to give my life to Christ before it's too late because I could be dead you know Elvis was a very good friend of mine but he hollered Jimi Hendrix all these people and God has spared my life if a person see me they can see that I am a new Creature if any man be in Christ God made me all over again but are you are you a satisfied person now are you sometimes you don't get the the urge to go back out and crank out some hits and uh no no no I'm I'm happy now I've made a lot of hits you know in the past but I'm happy now because I have peace of mind that peace that passes all understanding and it's just peace that that you can't get nowhere hello Gregory Gregory's here apparently there was some speculation that Gregory might not make it uh uh you're gonna sing this right Richard yes I am one day at a time ladies and gentlemen go on over there if you will sir Little Richard singing one day at a time [Applause] [Music] one day that song [Music] [Applause] [Music] way Yesterday's Gone sweet Jesus [Music] thank you and I'm just a man [Music] help me in what I believe in all that I am show me the spelling [Applause] for myself just thank you [Music] that's all I'm asking from you give me the strength to do every day when I had to do sweet Jesus [Music] do you remember when you walk the money well Jesus you know [Music] I'm proud in my mind huh Lord by my face one day at a time [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you Subway Crashers and author J Robert nice thank you very much Richard

Channel: Letterman

Views: 1,473,595

Keywords: letterman, david letterman, dave letterman, interview, letterman interview, letterman official, letterman late show, letterman late night, late night, stupid pet tricks, stupid human tricks, top ten, late show, top ten list

Id: 9OORlk147T8

Length: 15min 0sec (900 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 17 2023