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60 free Little Richard trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Little Richard trivia quiz covers the whole arc of the self-styled Architect of Rock and Roll. The easy questions handle the basics: where he was born, his real surname, the label that released his hits and the songs that made him famous in 1955 and 1956. From there it moves into the studio: who produced the sessions, which saxophonist and drummer powered the records, and how a risque club number was cleaned up into a million-seller. The harder end is for rock historians and pub-quiz regulars: the satellite that scared him into the ministry, the college where he studied theology, the teenage keyboard player in his 1962 gospel band, the guitarist who quit the Upsetters over unpaid wages, the wrestling gimmick he inspired and the children's TV theme he sang in the 1990s. There are also questions on the artists who worshipped him, from Otis Redding and James Brown to Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and David Bowie. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries for the singer, his key songs and his debut album before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. If you enjoy this one, our Elvis, Chuck Berry and 1950s music quizzes are the natural next stop.
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Q 01Little Richard was born in 1932 in which Georgia city?
Macon
He grew up in the city's Pleasant Hill neighborhood, and one of his childhood homes was later moved and restored as a neighborhood resource house.
Q 02What was Little Richard's surname at birth?
Penniman
A paperwork error changed his intended first name at birth, and his family later nicknamed him Lil' Richard for his skinny frame.
Q 03Little Richard was the third of how many children?
Twelve
His mother was a member of New Hope Baptist Church, and the family lived in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood.
Q 04Which nickname is Little Richard most often given for his role in creating a genre?
The Architect of Rock and Roll
His frenetic piano, pounding backbeat and raspy vocals in the mid-1950s laid the foundation for rock and roll.
Q 05What was Little Richard's first name originally supposed to be?
Ricardo
He was later nicknamed Lil' Richard by his family because of his small, skinny frame.
Q 06What nickname did young Richard earn for singing so loudly he was stopped in church?
War Hawk
He recalled always changing the key upwards and beating on steps, tin cans and pots while he sang, which annoyed the neighbors.
Q 07Which instrument did Little Richard learn to play in his school marching band?
Alto saxophone
He joined the band in fifth grade, and while in high school he sold Coca-Cola at concerts by stars such as Cab Calloway.
Q 08Which gospel star overheard the 14-year-old Richard singing her songs and invited him to open her show?
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
She paid him after the show, which he later said inspired him to become a professional performer.
Q 09Under what name did Richard perform in drag in his teenage years?
Princess LaVonne
He worked the minstrel and vaudeville circuit in and out of drag, with acts such as Sugarfoot Sam from Alabam and the King Brothers Circus.
Q 10Which bandleader gave Richard the stage name Little Richard in 1950?
Buster Brown
It was the first band he joined; the flamboyant Atlanta singer Billy Wright then taught him to use pancake makeup and a pompadour.
Q 11Which label released Little Richard's first single, "Every Hour", in the early 1950s?
RCA Victor
His father, who had disapproved of secular music, began playing the record on his nightclub jukebox.
Q 12Which Peacock Records owner knocked Richard out during a dispute over money?
Don Robey
None of his Peacock singles charted, and by 1954 he was back home washing dishes.
Q 13Broke in 1954, Richard took a job as a dishwasher for which company?
Greyhound Lines
That same year he formed the harder-driving Upsetters, who toured without a bassist and had the drummer thump extra hard to fake one.
Q 21What was the working title of "Long Tall Sally" before it was renamed?
The Thing
It was recorded on several different dates before label boss Art Rupe was satisfied.
Q 22Which saxophonist played the tenor solo on both "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally"?
Lee Allen
"Long Tall Sally" went on to become the best-selling 45 in the history of Specialty Records.
Q 23What was the name of Little Richard's backing band in the 1950s?
The Upsetters
James Brown and others credited Richard and this band as the first to put funk in the rock beat.
Q 14Which singer suggested Richard send a demo to Specialty Records in 1955?
Lloyd Price
Months passed before the label called; owner Art Rupe then loaned him money to buy out his Peacock contract.
Q 15Which producer ran Little Richard's breakthrough Specialty sessions?
Robert "Bumps" Blackwell
He thought Richard could be Specialty's answer to Ray Charles, but Richard said he preferred the sound of Fats Domino.
Q 16In which city's J&M Studios was "Tutti Frutti" recorded?
New Orleans
He was backed by Fats Domino's session players, including drummer Earl Palmer.
Q 17At which nightclub did Richard first belt out the risque original 'Tutti Frutti' for his producer?
The Dew Drop Inn
Blackwell heard a hit and hired a songwriter to replace the sexual lyrics with tamer ones.
Q 18Which songwriter was hired to clean up the lyrics of "Tutti Frutti"?
Dorothy LaBostrie
Blackwell said she did not understand melody but was a prolific writer.
Q 19How many takes did it reportedly take to record "Tutti Frutti" in September 1955?
Three
Released that November, it hit number 2 on the R&B chart and eventually sold a million copies.
Q 20Which clean-cut white singer's cover of "Tutti Frutti" charted higher than Little Richard's original?
Pat Boone
Blackwell and Richard then wrote a follow-up so fast that Boone supposedly could not handle it.
Q 24Which 1957 Little Richard single was inspired by the chugging of a train?
Lucille
It reached number one on the R&B chart, with a heavy bassline that foreshadowed 1960s rock.
Q 25Little Richard said he borrowed the piano intro for "Good Golly, Miss Molly" from which 1951 record?
Rocket 88
He said he had always liked the record and used the riff in his act, so when they needed a lead-in it fit.
Q 26What did Little Richard's first album, released in March 1957, peak at on the Billboard Top LPs chart?
Number 13
Rolling Stone later placed it at number 50 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Q 27In which 1956 film was Little Richard given a larger singing role?
The Girl Can't Help It
Disc jockey Alan Freed also put him in his rock and roll movies Don't Knock the Rock and Mister Rock and Roll.
Q 28Which song became Little Richard's first top ten single on the Billboard Top 100?
Keep A-Knockin'
By the time he left Specialty in 1959 he had scored nine top-40 pop singles and seventeen top-40 R&B singles.
Q 29Which two rockers were touring Australia with Little Richard when he announced he was joining the ministry?
Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran
He shocked the public mid-tour with the announcement.
Q 30Which object streaking across the Sydney sky did Little Richard take as a sign from God to quit rock?
Sputnik 1
He was told it was the first artificial Earth satellite, but he took the fireball as a sign to repent.