Rock Star

Rock & Roll Pioneer

b. December 5, 1932
d. May 9, 2020

“Elvis may be the King of Rock and Roll, but I am the Queen.”

Richard Penniman, “Little Richard,” was a musical pioneer of the 1950s and one the first Black crossover artists. Known for his legendary hits — such as “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally” and “Good Golly Miss Molly” — and flamboyant, gender-bending style, Little Richard has been called the “architect of rock and roll.”

Born in Macon, Georgia, during the Great Depression, Richard was one of 12 children of evangelical Christian parents. His father was a church deacon, a moonshine bootlegger and a nightclub owner. Richard’s love of music began as a child, singing in the church choir.

Richard’s early years were rife with abuse. Peers bullied him and mocked his walk. Richard’s father would strip him, tie him up and dispense “bloody beatings” for his effeminate behavior and deliberately androgynous appearance. His father “wanted seven boys,” Richard once said, and he “was messing it up.”

When Richard was 19, his father was murdered. Richard took a job as a dishwasher to provide for the family. He wrote some of his first and most celebrated tracks at that sink, including “Tutti Frutti,” the song that launched his career.

Released in 1955, “Tutti Frutti” rose to No. 2 on the Billboard rhythm and blues (R&B) chart and climbed the pop chart. It sold over a million copies to enthusiastic interracial fans. “From the get-go, my music was accepted by whites,” Richard said. The song’s introductory phrase, “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom” became one of the most iconic in contemporary music history.

Richard’s backbeat rhythms, vocal style and frenetic stage performances helped give rise to the rock and roll genre and significantly impacted R&B. His long pompadour hairdo and eye makeup inspired countless artists to come, from David Bowie to Prince. Paul McCartney credits Little Richard’s signature shrieks with informing his own singing screams.

Richard became a born-again Christian in 1957 and gave up rock and roll for gospel music and the ministry. “I’ve been gay all my life and I know God is a God of love, not of hate,” he said. He returned to rock after the Beatles recorded a rendition of “Long Tall Sally” in 1964.

Over the years, Little Richard’s songs have inspired covers by countless artists. He later appeared in movies and TV shows. Along with dozens of other honors, he was one of the first 10 artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the U.S. Library of Congress added “Tutti Frutti” to the National Recording Registry.

Little Richard died in Tennessee from bone cancer. He was 87.

Rock Star

b. January 19, 1943
d. October 4, 1970

“Don’t compromise yourself. It’s all you’ve got.”

Janis Joplin was a trailblazing 1960s blues-rock singer and songwriter. Celebrated for her raw, powerful vocals and electric stage presence, she became known as “the first queen of rock and roll.”

Janis Lyn Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas, to conservative, college-educated parents. She gained weight and developed acne as an adolescent, and in high school, boys bullied her mercilessly.

Rebellious, and convinced she would never be one of the “pretty girls,” she rejected mainstream fashion in favor of men’s shirts and tight skirts.

She befriended a group of male outcasts who shared her interest in music and the Beat movement. By her senior year, she had earned a reputation for tough-talking and hard-partying.

After graduating from high school in 1960, Joplin studied art at the University of Texas at Austin. She began performing there and joined a folk band. When a fraternity voted her the “ugliest man on campus,” she was devastated.

Joplin dropped out of college in 1963 and hitchhiked to San Francisco. She developed a following for her music, and she and a boyfriend started shooting methedrine. Troubled by her addiction, a group of friends sent her back to Texas to clean up. Though still a heavy drinker, she largely succeeded and returned to San Francisco’s music scene.

Joplin’s big break came when she joined the rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. With Joplin fronting, their popularity exploded after a historic performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Their second album, “Cheap Thrills” (1968), featuring hits like “Summertime” and “Piece of My Heart,” reached No. 1.

Joplin’s preeminence soon created friction, and she left Big Brother for a solo career. Backed by a new group, she performed in 1969 at Woodstock, high on heroin. Her first solo album debuted a month later, peaking at No. 5.

In 1970, after forming another band, Joplin died alone in a hotel room of an accidental overdose. She was 27. Released posthumously, “Pearl” (1971) became her best-selling album, and “Me and My Bobby McGee” became her only No. 1 single.

Drive and insecurity dominated Joplin’s life. In a letter to her parents, she described ambition as “the need to be loved.” Absent any labels, she freely maintained sexual relationships with men and women, including her best friend.

After her death, Joplin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Rock Star

b. January 8, 1947
d. January 10, 2016

“It’s true—I’m bisexual. … I suppose it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Born David Robert Jones in London, David Bowie was a singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. He is among the best-selling recording artists in the world. 

Bowie first splashed onto the music charts in 1969 with “Space Oddity.” The song became one of his best known and among three of his recordings to be included in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. Bowie went on to experiment with a variety of musical styles that came to define him as an innovator.

With his first album, “The Man Who Sold the World,” Bowie helped usher in the era of glam rock, a style known for its androgynous-looking performers, make-up and flamboyant costumes. 

Bowie followed his debut with a string of musical successes, notably “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” The 1972 concept album featured his gender-bending alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust, an alien rock star. The same year, in an interview with Melody Maker magazine, Bowie came out as gay. He later told Playboy he was bisexual. 

In 1976 Bowie starred in “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” the first of his many film roles. He experimented with highly theatrical live shows and narrated “Peter and the Wolf” with the Philadelphia Orchestra—the first of his many children’s projects. He made his Broadway debut in “The Elephant Man.” In addition to music, film and theater, Bowie was also an accomplished artist whose work was shown at international galleries.

Bowie produced important albums for Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Mott the Hoople, and collaborated with artists such as John Lennon, the band Queen, and Mick Jagger, with whom he had been romantically linked. 

In 1993 he told Rolling Stone magazine that declaring his bisexuality was “the biggest mistake” he ever made. He would later say he had “no problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to hold any banners nor be a representative of any group of people.”  

In 1996 Bowie was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and became the first musician to release a song for download. His 30th and final studio album, “Blackstar,” was released just two days before he died of cancer.

Bowie was married twice to women, the second time to the model Iman (his widow). He was the father of a son and a daughter. 

Rock Star

b. July 26, 1943

“I wasn’t trying to be rebellious … I was just being me.”

Mick Jagger is the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, a British rock band whose popularity has spanned more than 50 years. As one of the most influential and charismatic front men in history, Jagger has received many awards and accolades. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and was knighted in 2003. Rolling Stone magazine names him among the top 20 on its List of 100 Greatest Singers.

Immersed in the counterculture of the 1960s, Jagger and his bandmates became famous after releasing a string of successful albums and making TV and live concert appearances around the world. They collaborated with fellow superstars throughout the ’70s and ’80s, rubbing elbows with the famous and infamous, including Andy Warhol, the gay pop artist who created a portrait series of Jagger.

During the 1970s, Jagger adopted a gender-nonconforming stage persona, experimenting with makeup and glam-rock fashion. He became a fixture at New York’s famed Studio 54, often seen with gay icons like writer Truman Capote, fashion designer Halston and dancer Rudolf Nureyev. Jagger is credited with opening up “definitions of gendered masculinity.”

In 1985 Jagger performed at Live Aid in Philadelphia, where he covered “Dancing in the Street” with David Bowie, another gender-nonconforming rock star with whom he has been romantically linked.

Jagger also launched a successful solo career and acted in several movies, most notably the 1970 British crime drama “Performance,” in which he plays a bisexual.

Jagger and the Rolling Stones have been the subject of many documentaries, including “Gimme Shelter,” filmed during the band’s 1969 U.S. tour, during which several people died; “Sympathy for the Devil” by Jean-Luc-Goddard; and “Shine a Light” by Martin Scorsese.

Jagger has been married twice and is the father of seven children. He has been involved with other women and men over the years.

Rock Star

b. September 5, 1946, Zanzibar, Tanzania

d. November 21, 1991, London, England

“Success has brought me world idolization and millions of pounds. But it has prevented me from having the one thing we all need, a loving, ongoing relationship.”

Freddie Mercury ranks among the most sensational rock ’n’ roll vocalists in history. He was one of the leading musicians, record producers and songwriters of the 1980s.

Born Farrokh Bulsara to Parsi parents, Mercury was a British citizen who spent his childhood in India. At age 7, he began to study piano. When he was 8, he matriculated to an all-boys school near Bombay (now Mumbai). While enrolled there, he adopted the name “Freddie” and formed a band, the Hectics. In his teens, he moved with his family to Middlesex, England.

When he was 24, Mercury, with guitarist Brian May and percussionist Roger Taylor, formed Queen. Mercury designed the crest of the band, which features the zodiac signs of all the band members, a ribbon circled in the form of a Q and a phoenix symbolizing continual rebirth.

Mercury’s unique musical style blended pop, disco, rockabilly, and operatic influences. He wrote many of Queen’s most popular songs, including “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “We Are the Champions” and his elaborate masterpiece, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Mercury was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame. He ranks 18 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 greatest singers of all time. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” one of the best-selling singles of all time, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.

Mercury died at 44 of AIDS-related illness.