The Most Flamboyant Man Alive has passed

[Neutral 0bserver]

Forget Elvis. Forget Liberace. Forget Mick Jagger. Forget Silver King. Forget MrHiSchool. Forget HardeeWildcatFan. Forget Ghost of HWF.

None of them count.

The most flamboyant man on Earth was Richard Wayne Penniman and he passed away on Saturday.

Nicknamed the "Architect of Rock and Roll", the man who introduced the world to "Tutti Fruitti" was known worldwide as simply "Little Richard". He was 87.

Will there ever be another Little Richard? Can anyone ever truly replace the man? Who's to say? So Nu'Trelle called Las Vegas. Oddsmakers are laying even money he will be replaced by

"peezy28"​

 

[Silver King]

Why do you say Flamboyant? Just a kid from Macon, Georgia!

 

[Neutral 0bserver]

SK: To say Little Richard was "Flamboyant" doesn't really do him justice. He was so much more than that. He was the first person who had the courage to come out on stage and - outrageous as it was at the time - not just hint at being flamboyant, but outlandishly flaunt it.

Once Little Richard opened the door in 1955, then other provocative entertainers had tacit approval to push the envelope in order to captivate their own audiences. Without Little Richard blazing the trail, you probably wouldn't have seen Elvis thrusting his hips on The Ed Sullivan Show or witnessed Liberace sitting at a grand piano with a fully lit candelabra and being "Liberace".

The network sensors never would have stood for it. I was there. I lived it. Nomsayin?

Billy Joel, The Piano Man? No problem. He would have passed muster with or without Little Richard. But what about a person like Elton John? What if the 'Rocketman' had been quashed before he ever got off the ground? Had it not been for Little Richard laying the groundwork, we might never met the guy who got over 22 million views (and counting) for this single upload to YouTube:

Little Richard to all who followed: "It's okay, man. Just be 'you'."​