IN: Little Richard was born Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5, 1932, in Macon, Georgia. He was the third of twelve children of Leva Mae (nee Stewart) and Charles "Bud" Penniman. His father was a church deacon who sold bootlegged moonshine on the side and owned a nightclub, the Tip In Inn.

Little Richard's family had deep evangelical (Baptist and African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)) Christian roots, including two uncles and a grandfather who were preachers. Little Richard also took part in Macon's Pentecostal churches, which were his favorites mainly due to their music, charismatic praise, dancing in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. At age 10, influenced by Pentecostalism, Little Richard would go around saying he was a faith healer, singing gospel music to people who were feeling sick and touching them. He later recalled that they would often indicate that they felt better after he prayed for them and would sometimes give him money. Little Richard had aspirations of being a preacher due to the influence of singing evangelist Brother Joe May.  After he was born again in 1957, Little Richard enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, a mostly black Seventh-day Adventist college, to study theology. Little Richard returned to secular music in the early 1960s. He was eventually ordained a minister in 1970, and again resumed evangelical activities in 1977. Little Richard represented Memorial Bibles International and sold their Black Heritage Bible, which highlighted the Book's many black characters. As a preacher, Little Richard evangelized in small churches and packed auditoriums of 20,000 or more. His preaching focused on uniting the races and bringing lost souls to repentance through God's love. In 1984, Little Richard's mother, Leva Mae, died following a period of illness. Only a few months prior to her death, Little Richard promised her that he would remain a Christian.  During the 1980s and 1990s, Little Richard officiated at celebrity weddings. In 2006, Little Richard wedded twenty couples who won a contest in one ceremony. The musician used his experience and knowledge as a minister and elder statesman of rock and roll to preach at funerals of musical friends such as Wilson Pickett and Ike Turner. At a benefit concert in 2009 to raise funds to help rebuild children's playgrounds destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Little Richard asked guest of honor Fats Domino to pray with him and others. His assistants handed out inspirational booklets at the concert--a common practice at Little Richard's shows. He somberly told a Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C. audience in June 2012, "I know this is not Church, but get close to the Lord. The world is getting close to the end. Get close to the Lord." In 2013, Little Richard elaborated on his spiritual philosophies, stating "God talked to me the other night. He said He's getting ready to come. The world's getting ready to end and He's coming, wrapped in flames of fire with a rainbow around his throne." Rolling Stone reported his apocalyptic prophesies generated snickers from some audience members as well as cheers of support. Little Richard responded by stating: "When I talk to you about [Jesus], I'm not playing. I'm almost 81 years old. Without God, I wouldn't be here." In 2017, he came back to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, been rebaptized and 3ABN had an interview with Little Richard, and later he shared his personal testimony at 3ABN Fall Camp Meeting 2017.

Who did he promise?

OUT: Only a few months prior to her death, Little Richard promised her that he would remain a Christian.


IN: Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey; January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first (self-titled) album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of neotraditional country. She has also recorded albums in the country pop and bluegrass genres.

In North Carolina, Patty and her husband Terry played in a circuit of small bars and concert halls. She sang covers of late 70s rock songs, along with Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt tunes, with the occasional country song. (After her marriage, she adopted the professional name Patty Loveless, as not to draw any connection to adult film actress Linda Lovelace.  During this time of her life she also was distant from her family, as she had married without their consent. According to Loveless, "...I think my father thought I had lost my mind. This music is going to just ruin your life... it ruined your life... But it was a music that I learned from again... You wouldn't believe the people that would come to this club. They would get off from work, and they wouldn't go home. They'd come to this club and have a few beers, or ... dance.... I learned a lot about people and life in those places. I mean there was all walks of life... people who had hit the very bottom. And myself, there was times I felt myself becoming one of those people too. There was some hard times for us both, my ex-husband and I. And I think at the time, it caused us to be torn apart, and we lost respect for each other. And it got to the point that we didn't know each other..." A low point of her life was in October 1979, when her father, whom she idolized, died near Louisville while Loveless was in North Carolina.  The years in North Carolina were not successful for her, as the police started busting the clubs she would perform in and shut them down. When she wasn't performing she was working as a waitress at her mother-in-law's restaurant. By 1984, she was singing in a club and was singing country music for a change of the rock she would normally perform. There was a new generation of artists in Nashville, singers like George Strait and Reba McEntire who were changing the traditions of country music.  According to Loveless, "...I learned so much about what to feel in a song from those years of playing those clubs. I was saddened sometimes because I thought 'I left Nashville, I left all that for this? What happened to me? What is wrong with me?' But I think what was happening was that I was beginning to find... me. Find who I really was. And what kind of person I was inside and out. I still believe to this day it happened the way it was supposed to happen.

Did she get married?

OUT:
her husband Terry