Little Richard, whose hits like "Tutti Frutti" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" made him one of the world's most popular acts, has died at 87.

With piano-pounding performances, wild vocals and signature bouffant hair, he burst onto the musical scene in the 1950s and came to be known as the king of rock-and-roll. He was covered by The Beatles and scores of later musicians who took him as a frenetic inspiration.