"But when I went on the stage to do a show, I would put on makeup because I felt that it enhanced my act; it drew attention to what I was doing"

Little Richard frames makeup as a deliberate instrument of stagecraft, not vanity. He treats cosmetics like an amplifier: they boost presence, sharpen contours of expression, and make the performance legible from the back row. By highlighting eyes, mouth, and cheekbones, he directs the gaze toward the gestures that carry rhythm, humor, and mischief. The face becomes a metronome; each wink, grin, and shout reads like a downbeat.

The choice is crucial. “I would put on makeup because I felt…” centers agency. In an era hostile to flamboyance, especially for a Black artist, painting the face functioned as both shield and signal: protective armor against erasure and a beacon announcing irrepressible joy. It made spectacle intentional, a crafted language rather than a scandal. The mask paradoxically reveals; exaggeration discloses essence. By heightening artifice, he made the truth of his music harder to ignore.

There is also craft logic. Early rock shows were loud, chaotic, and poorly amplified. Visual clarity carried what microphones missed. Glitter catches light; eyeliner frames the beat; rouge punctuates punch lines. He turns cosmetics into musical notation you can see. The audience follows the song by following the face.

The statement also maps a philosophy of performance: art is not a confession but a construction, and construction can be more honest than the everyday. Persona is a vehicle for energy, not a lie. Drawing attention to “what I was doing” means using every available tool to aim perception at the work, voice, piano, swagger, and yes, paint. That decision seeded a lineage, granting later artists permission to build selves that are brighter, stranger, and truer onstage. Makeup, then, is less camouflage than emphasis, a highlighter pen over rhythm and rebellion, making the act impossible to miss. It concentrates spectacle into purpose, converting appearance into intention and charisma into craft and legacy.