- Little Richard is a legendary rocker, who died in May 2020.
- He had one son Danny Jones Penniman, who he adopted with his ex-wife Ernestine Harvin.
- Danny continued working with his dad during the rocker’s final years.
Little Richard is one of the most iconic singer-songwriters in music history. He was one of the original pioneers of rock music with his signature 50s songs, like “Tutti Frutti”, “Long Tall Sally”, and “Good Golly Miss Molly.” Many iconic rockstars credited him with influencing their sounds and helping establish the sound of rock and roll. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement Grammy Award. Richard died at 87 in May 2020, following a short battle with bone cancer.
Born Richard Wayne Penniman, the rocker was only wed once to Ernestine Harvin from 1957 to 1964. During his life, Richard had a complicated relationship with his sexuality. He occasionally said that he was gay, like when he spoke about his father in a 2016 GQ interview. “He said he wanted seven boys, and that I had spoiled it, because I was gay,” he said. Despite seeming to go back and forth about his sexuality, Richard had spoken out against the LGBTQ community in a 2017 interview with 3ABN, per Ebony. Throughout his life, Richard only had one child, his adopted son Danny Jones Penniman. Find out more about Danny here.
Little Richard maintained a close friendship with Danny’s mother
Richard became close with Danny’s biological mother Creola Jones in the 1980s, when he had stepped away from his rock and roll lifestyle and dedicated himself to the church. The singer had become close with Creola and her family by attending masses in Los Angeles, according to a June 2020 profile by Rolling Stone. Danny recalled seeing Richard when he was in second grade. He recalled him visiting and neighborhood friends coming over to see him. “Whenever he did, he’d have a bag of coins, and he’d throw it up in the air and we scrambled. Oh, man, we got some money,” Danny told Rolling Stone.
Richard adopted Danny in 1984
After Danny’s father died, he revealed that his mother had asked Richard to take him in. “He would never say anything to me about whatever I was doing. He would just always encourage me,” he told Rolling Stone. “I had six sisters and three brothers, living in a poor neighborhood, doing whatever. My mom asked him: Could he take care of me? Because she didn’t she want me turning out like the rest of my -sisters and brothers, and he agreed to it.”
Danny joined his dad on the road, and he opened up about some of the wisdom that his dad gave him through the years. “Parenting for him was: He would say something to you, and you had to figure it out,” he explained. “He would make statements like, ‘You control the money, don’t let the money control you.’ As a kid, you don’t really know what that means, but as life goes on, you figure it out.”
Danny worked with his father until his death
Near the end of Richard’s life, Danny continued to live and work with him in Tennessee. He opened up about how in his final years, Richard had mostly become focused on his life in the church. When his dad died, Danny served as the representative who confirmed his passing in May 2020. Since Richard’s death, Danny has appeared to have kept mostly private.