His cameo came at the 1996 Closing Ceremony in Atlanta where the Olympic Movement celebrated the "centennial" of the modern Games.

Atlanta 1996 (ACOG) organisers described him as "the original wildman of rock and roll who sent shock waves through America and the world, much imitated but never duplicated."

Little Richard was born Richard Wayne Penniman, one of twelve children, in Macon, Georgia, some 135 kilometres south of the Olympic city.

He was already 63 years old at the time of the 1996 Games but told the Atlanta Constitution and Journal newspaper "We’re going to make their knees freeze, their bladders splatter!" and promised a performance that would be "Screamin’ and Steamin!"

His turn came after the Olympic Flame had been extinguished. It was part of what was billed as a "Southern Jamboree -  a celebration of all the rich musical forms that found their birthplace in the American South."

Wearing a spangled long red and black coat, he entered playing the piano on "a rolling platform" for a performance entitled "Southern Rock."

He sang "Good Golly Miss Molly!", a number he had first recorded in the Olympic year of 1956.

Then he joined "Buckwheat Zydeco" and Latin percussionist "Tito” Puente in a "jam" session to the Louisiana Zydeco dance tune "Jambalaya".

As they sang, the athletes broke ranks to dance along in centre field as giant inflatable figures or "tube men" rose up around the stadium.

Little Richard then performed "Long Tall Sally" but this time there was no room for perhaps his most famous hit.

In Entertainment Weekly, he had jokingly suggested "they should add the Tutti Frutti to the Olympics. That’s out of Georgia, and since it’s the Peach State, we’ll play it with peaches."

ACOG had faced fierce criticism throughout the Games, but few could criticise the Closing Ceremony line up where Little Richard shared the stage with artists such as BB King, Gloria Estefan and The Pointer Sisters.

Bob Costas, the commentator for the American network NBC wondered "is there a man alive crazy enough to want to follow Little Richard?"

In fact his act was followed by fireworks before he joined Stevie Wonder and other cast members on stage to sing "Happy Birthday" to the Olympics.