The legendary musician died after a years-long battle with bone cancer, his longtime agent Dick Alenconfirmed to PEOPLE.
“Little Richard passed away this morning from bone cancer in Nashville.
He was living with his brother in Nashville,” Alen said.
Little Richard on ‘The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour’ on Oct. 1, 1971.
“He was battling for a good while, many years.
I last spoke to him about two or three weeks ago.
Hes been suffering for many years with various aches and pains.
He just wouldnt talk about it much.
I created rock and roll, Richard would later say, didnt even know what I was doing.
But the carnival was an advance class in entertainment, and I was awakened.
After having a falling out with his father over his homosexuality, Richard fled town as a teenager.
I didnt like to sing like nobody else.
I didnt like to play like nobody else, Richardonce saidof his Macon upbringing.
I was considered crazy and stupid and backwards.
A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-bam-boom, sang Richard, who was initially reluctant to record the song due to its explicit imagery.
Ive always thought that rock and roll brought the races together, Little Richard said in the 80s.
Although I was black, the fans didnt care.
I used to feel good about that.
But its stronger than ever.
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