Macon · Rampart Street · Sunset Boulevard · the Hunter River
Five rings. In 1957 he threw his into a river in Australia.
Pleasant Hill, Macon · from 1932
1540 Fifth Street, Pleasant Hill. He grew up in Pleasant Hill, a historically Black Macon neighbourhood.
The Little Richard House · 416 Craft Street, Pleasant Hill
He was born in Macon on 5 December 1932, one of twelve children. Visit Macon calls it the preserved childhood home of Richard Wayne Penniman.
A Macon-Bibb community resource centre in his family’s old house. No opening hours are published: phone (478) 254-3089 before you go.
415 First Street · at fourteen
At fourteen he sold Coca-Cola to the crowds here.
Macon City Auditorium · 415 First Street
The job, for the promoter Clint Brantley, let him watch the touring rhythm-and-blues and gospel acts. Built in 1925, it is on the National Register; Visit Macon says its copper dome is reportedly the largest in the world.
A working concert hall: see the Macon Centreplex listings. Box office (478) 751-9152.
Ann’s Tic Toc, now the Tic Toc Room · 408 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard
Miss Ann gave him a job washing dishes, and the bar saw one of his earliest performances. After his father was killed he washed dishes at Macon’s Greyhound bus station to support the family.
Now a restaurant and martini bar under the old name. The photograph shows the bus bays a short walk away.
Tubman Museum · 310 Cherry Street
Visit Macon lists Little Richard’s piano among the museum’s highlights.
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 9am–5pm; Visit Macon puts admission at $10 or less.
310 Cherry Street, Macon · Tue–Sat 9am–5pm · $10 or less
Little Richard’s piano is one of the museum’s highlights, on Cherry Street, a block from the Tic Toc Room.
Plan a visitMacon, Georgia · Two hours · book online
Two hours by van through Macon’s rock and soul history, downtown and in the old residential districts. Book through Visit Macon or call the visitor centre on (478) 743-1074.
See the tourMacon to 8508 Sunset Boulevard · 1955
In 1955, while he was washing dishes in Macon, he sent Art Rupe an audition tape.
Specialty Records, 8508 Sunset Boulevard
Specialty moved to 8508 Sunset Boulevard in 1949. Visit Macon counts seven gold records among his 36 Specialty sides, Long Tall Sally and Good Golly, Miss Molly among them.
An address on the Strip: look from the street. The photograph is Sunset at La Cienega, a few doors east.
His star on Hollywood Boulevard · 6840 Hollywood Boulevard
His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was dedicated in 1990, at 6840 Hollywood Boulevard. He made The Girl Can’t Help It and Don’t Knock the Rock in 1956 and Mister Rock ’n’ Roll in 1957.
On the pavement: free, at any hour.
New Orleans · September 1955
Specialty sent Little Richard to Matassa’s studio in 1955 to record with musicians who had played on Fats Domino’s records. The result was Tutti Frutti.
J&M Recording Studio · 838–840 North Rampart Street, French Quarter
Cosimo Matassa ran his J&M Music Shop at 838 North Rampart Street and put recording equipment in it. The session was in New Orleans in September 1955.
Matassa moved to Governor Nicholls Street in 1956. In 2010 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named the Rampart Street site a rock and roll landmark.
The studio is long gone; look from the pavement. The J&M Music Shop tiles were still in the doorway in 2008.
2836 LaSalle Street, New Orleans · Pool day passes from $20 · rooms on the site
The club where he played Tutti Frutti on his lunch break is a 17-room hotel again, each room named for someone from its history, with a music room and a pool.
Check roomsMore on this room: Tutti Frutti, a performance finds its recording room · Little Richard’s recorded music
The Stockton ferry, Newcastle · 3 October 1957
On 2 October 1957 he headlined Lee Gordon’s Big Show at the old Newcastle Stadium, with Eddie Cochran on the bill. A band member had taunted him that a man serving God should give up his jewellery.
Five rings, five places he was leaving. Throw one.
Twenty-four years old, two years after Tutti Frutti, on a car ferry across the Hunter River.
Huntsville, Alabama · 1957
He left rock and roll on the 1957 Australian tour. In 1957 he enrolled at Oakwood College to study theology and become a minister.
A working university, then Oakwood College: see the campus from Adventist Boulevard, or contact the university to visit.
Lime Street, Liverpool · 28 October 1962
In 1962 he came back to rock and roll and toured Britain and Germany with the Beatles, who admired him.
The Empire Theatre, Liverpool
It was the Beatles’ first time at the Empire, in a NEMS Enterprises promotion. ATG calls it the largest two-tier theatre in the UK.
A working theatre: see the ATG listings for shows and the box office.
Oakwood Memorial Gardens · 20 May 2020
He died on 9 May 2020. He was laid to rest on 20 May 2020 at the university’s Memorial Gardens in a closed ceremony; the public could pay respects along the procession.
The university’s cemetery. The 2020 burial was private; visit quietly, and contact the university first.
12 places you can visit, in Macon, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Newcastle, Huntsville and Liverpool. The first Pleasant Hill site, on Fifth Street, is named only by its street.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A Macon-Bibb community resource centre in his family’s old house. No opening hours are published: phone (478) 254-3089 before you go.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working concert hall: see the Macon Centreplex listings. Box office (478) 751-9152.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Now a restaurant and martini bar under the old name. The photograph shows the bus bays a short walk away.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 9am–5pm; Visit Macon puts admission at $10 or less.
416 Craft Street, Pleasant Hill
He grew up in Pleasant Hill, a historically Black Macon neighbourhood.
A Macon-Bibb community resource centre in his family’s old house. No opening hours are published: phone (478) 254-3089 before you go.
415 First Street
At fourteen he sold Coca-Cola to the crowds here.
A working concert hall: see the Macon Centreplex listings. Box office (478) 751-9152.
408 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard
At 13 he went to live with Ann and Johnny Johnson, who ran Miss Ann’s Tic Toc, and he first performed there.
Now a restaurant and martini bar under the old name. The photograph shows the bus bays a short walk away.
310 Cherry Street
Visit Macon lists Little Richard’s piano among the museum’s highlights.
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 9am–5pm; Visit Macon puts admission at $10 or less.
Stay
The LaSalle Street club is a hotel again.
2836 LaSalle Street, New Orleans · Pool day passes from $20 · rooms on the site
The club where he played Tutti Frutti on his lunch break is a 17-room hotel again, each room named for someone from its history, with a music room and a pool.
Check roomsGo there
Macon by van, his piano at the Tubman, and New Orleans music walks.
Macon, Georgia · Two hours · book online
Two hours by van through Macon’s rock and soul history, downtown and in the old residential districts. Book through Visit Macon or call the visitor centre on (478) 743-1074.
See the tour310 Cherry Street, Macon · Tue–Sat 9am–5pm · $10 or less
Little Richard’s piano is one of the museum’s highlights, on Cherry Street, a block from the Tic Toc Room.
Plan a visitNew Orleans
Live marketplace results for music history walks in New Orleans. Check each itinerary for Rampart Street.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Music at the Dew Drop and a sixties night at the Liverpool Empire.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
An original 1969 Toronto poster from our store, two biographies and his first two Specialty albums.
An original 1969 poster for the Varsity Stadium show where he shared the bill with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Doors; 17 × 24 inches, near mint.
Sold out · archive reference
View posterCharles White
Charles White’s authorised biography.
Find the bookDavid Kirby
A short biography of Little Richard.
Find the bookLittle Richard · LP, Specialty SP-100, 1957
His first album, with Tutti Frutti on it.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyLittle Richard · LP, Specialty SP-2103, 1958
The second Specialty album, out after he had gone to Oakwood.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 14 of 14 Moments
416 Craft Street, Pleasant Hill
He grows up in Pleasant Hill, in a house on Fifth Street, one of twelve children.
With the interstate coming, the county agrees that the state will move his old house from Fifth Street to Craft Street.
415 First Street
Selling Coca-Cola at the City Auditorium, he is called up by Sister Rosetta Tharpe to sing with her.
408 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard
He washes dishes in Miss Ann’s kitchen and gets up on her stage.
310 Cherry Street
His piano is on show at the Tubman Museum.
838–840 North Rampart Street, French Quarter
Bumps Blackwell records him at Cosimo Matassa’s studio with Fats Domino’s players. Tutti Frutti comes out of it.
2836 LaSalle Street, Central City
On the lunch break he plays his club version of Tutti Frutti on the Dew Drop’s stage, and the producers hear a hit.
Sunset Strip, West Hollywood
Washing dishes at the Greyhound station in Macon, he sends Art Rupe an audition tape; Rupe buys his contract.
6840 Hollywood Boulevard
His star is dedicated at 6840 Hollywood Boulevard.
Hunter River, Newcastle, New South Wales
He headlines Lee Gordon’s Big Show at the old Newcastle Stadium.
On the Stockton ferry he throws his rings and jewellery into the Hunter River and gives up rock and roll.
Huntsville, Alabama
He enrols at Oakwood College in Huntsville to study theology.
Lime Street, Liverpool
He headlines two shows at the Liverpool Empire; the Beatles are on the bill.
Oakwood University campus, Huntsville
He is buried at Oakwood Memorial Gardens in a closed ceremony.
