The Real King of Rock and Roll: New Doc Trailer Delves Into the Life and Music of Little Richard
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Little Richard’s radical rock and roll and his complicated legacy and personal life are explored in the new trailer for Lisa Cortés’ new documentary, Little Richard: I Am Everything.
The film (a Rolling Stone co-production) tells the story of the musical pioneer while simultaneously exploring the black queer origins of rock music and how it was successfully whitewashed throughout American pop culture. As Richard puts it in one of the many bits of archival footage in the clip, “Did you know Elvis Presley and Pat Boone sold more of ‘Tutti Frutti’ than I did?”
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The trailer also teases some of the heavier themes the film explores, like Richard’s tenuous relationship with his own queerness and the way he struggled to live as his true self while empowering others to do exactly that. There are also interviews with an array of Black and queer scholars, plus some of the artists Richard influenced, from Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney to filmmaker John Waters.
Little Richard: I Am Everything premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January. The doc will hit theaters for a special one-night-only screening on April 11 before a wider theatrical release on April 21 (the film will hit digital/on-demand services that same day).
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