Great Quotes About Little Richard

Etta James : "He was the biggest of them all. And he knew it...he wanted everyone to call him King Richard."

Paul McCartney: "I love his voice and I always wanted to sing like him."

Mick Jagger: "Little Richard is the originator and my first idol."

Jimi Hendrix: "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."


Smokey Robinson: "Little Richard is the beginning of rock and roll."

Rod Stewart: "The first rock and roll record I listen to was The Girl Can't Help It by Little Richard."

Paul Simon: "When I was in high school I wanted to be like Little Richard."

Keith Richards: "The most exciting moment of my life was appearing on the same stage as Little Richard."

Elton John: "Little Richard's records were the best rock and roll records."

Michael Jackson: "James Brown, Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, Chuck Berry and Little Richard - I think they had strong influences on a lot of people."

Quincy Jones: "Little Richard was not only a giant but a pioneer of the so-called rock and roll music industry."

David Bowie: "After hearing Little Richard on record, I bought a saxophone and came into the music business. Little Richard was my inspiration."

Wilson Pickett: "Little Richard is the architect of rock and roll."

Pat Boone: "No one has been imitated more than Little Richard."

Elton John Quotes

"I was just genuinely shy. I'd always been a shy kid."

"Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours."

"An agent is a person who is sore because an actor gets 90% of what they make."

"I've always wanted to smash a guitar over someone's head. You just can't do that with a piano."

"I'm not a fan of talent shows. I probably wouldn't have lasted if I'd gone on one."

"They influenced me just from the songwriting point of view. Lennon and McCartney, there's no question of it, no one will ever equal the quality of the songs they wrote."

"Every artist who makes it goes through a period where it seems they're invincible. We've seen it with Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and Prince. It just seems like they can't fail. And then suddenly everything levels off."

"In the early 70's there were at least ten albums released every week that were fantastic. Now you're lucky to find ten albums a year of that quality.

"The whole point of being in this business and being blessed and being successful is that you're able to do things for your friends or your family, which means that they can have something special in their lives, too."

"The great thing about rock and roll is that someone like me can be a star."

Rock Artists Who Won Oscars

The Beatles: Best  Song Score - Let It Be - 1970.

Isaac Hayes: The Theme From Shaft - 1971.

Stevie Wonder:  I Just Called To Say I Love You - The Woman In Red - 1984

Prince: Best Song Score - Purple Rain - 1984

Carly Simon: Let The River Run - Working Girl - 1988

Bruce Springsteen: The Streets Of Philadelphia - Philadelphia - 1993

Elton John: Can You Feel The Love Tonight - The Lion King - 1994

Phil Collins: You'll Be In My Heart - Tarzan - 1999

Bob Dylan: Things Have Changed - Wonder Boys - 2000


Eminem: Lose Yourself - 8 Mile - 2002

Annie Lennox: Into The West - Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King - 2003

Three 6 Mafia: It's A Hard Life For A Pimp - Hustle & Flow - 2005

Melissa Etheridge: I Need to Wake Up - An Inconvenient Truth - 2006

Trent Reznor: Best Original Score - The Social Network - 2010

Famous Rock & Roll Muses

Marilyn Monroe: The subject of Elton John's "Candle In The Wind", later Elton re-wrote the lyrics as a tribute to princess Diana.

Patti Boyd: Both "Something" by the Beatles and "Layla" by Derek And The Dominos were written about her. Patti was caught in a romantic triangle between then husband George Harrison and Eric Clapton, who was in love with her. She eventually divorced George and married Eric.

Billy Jean King: Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote "Philadelphia Freedom" about Billy Jean's tennis team.

Judy Collins: Crosby, Stills & Nash recorded "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", a song about Still's girlfriend.

Rosanna Arquette: Toto's "Rosanna" and Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" were both written for this actress.

Erin Everly: Erin is the daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Bros. The song "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns n Roses was written for her by then boyfriend Axel Rose

Famous Songs About Famous People

Going To California - Led Zepplin (1971): The lyric "...she plays guitar and cries and sings" is about Joni Mitchell.

Love Reign o'er Me - The Who (1973): Pete Townshend originally wrote this song about British singer Shirley Bassey, whom he had a crush on during his adolescence.

Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack (1973): Supposedly inspired by a poem written by Lori Lieberman about singer Don McLean.


Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd (1975) This nine part song was inspired by former lead singer Syd Barrett, who ironically visited the studio while the group was recording. It took awhile to recognise him because no one had seen him for several years.

Hurricane - Bob Dylan (1975): A protest song about boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who Dylan felt was wrongly sent to prison in the late 60's.

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton (1978): From the album "Slowhand", this song was written for George Harrison's ex-wife Pattie Boyd.

Empty Garden - Elton John (1982) Written and recorded after the death of John Lennon. The two artists were close friends, with Elton being named Sean Lennon's godfather.

Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses (1987): From their multi platinum selling album "Appetite For Destruction". Axl Rose co-wrote this song about his then girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers.

Black Velvet - Alannah Myles (1989): This song is a tribute to Elvis Presley and hit number one on the U.S. Billboard charts.