“The Architect of Rock and Roll,” Little Richard, will be commemorated with a new statue outside his childhood home in Macon, Georgia. Richard Wayne Penniman passed away earlier this month after a private battle with bone cancer. Friends of the Little Richard House and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia have initiated a fund to pay for the statue along with a replica of the musician’s Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Representative James Beverly said the fund will also be used to support organizations that provide music education to low to moderate-income students across Bibb County and Middle Georgia. Organizers are planning to have the statue erected by December 5, on what would have been Little Richard’s 88th birthday.
“Little Richard’s contribution to music as a whole, to all the genres of music, was monumental and very instrumental in a lot of people’s careers,” Antonio Williams, a Friends of the Little Richard House board member stated. In 2017, Little Richard celebrated his 85th birthday. To celebrate, Macon proclaimed December 5 “Little Richard Day.” And during a recent meeting held over Zoom, a board member read a proclamation from Macon Mayor Robert Reichert stating December 5 will be known as “Little Richard Penniman Day.”
