OAKWOOD UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS, LITTLE RICHARD, TO BE BURIED AT HIS ALMA MATER WEDNESDAY

A private service will be held for the icon of rock and roll on Wednesday morning.

Happening now -- oakwood university is preparing to welcome back music icon little richard to its campus.

The self-proclaimed innovator of rock and roll will be buried at the oakwood memorial gardens on wednesday.

Earlier today -- i spoke with some who knew the man born richard penniman.

They tell me it's no surprise his family wanted him buried at his alma mater.

Oakwood university or huntsville may not have been richard's, i'll say, familial home, but i would say in many ways, it was his spiritual home.

Many will remember little richard as the 'war hawk' for his singing style or the masterful command of the stage that inspired musical legends for generations.

But after he rose to stardom in the 50's... richard penniman came here... to what was then oakwood college... to study ministry.

Family spokesman david person says his time at oakwood helped inform some of the choices he made when penniman returned to the stage.

Richard had a team of people that traveled with him whose sole responsibility was to put religious literature on every seat in any venue that he performed in.

The men's dorm, peterson hall, was penniman's home when he first arrived in huntsville in the late 50's.

And it was on this campus that person says the rock and roll legend planted the seeds of his spiritual journey.

Ultimately, i think he landed in that sweet spot where he understood that little richard and richard penniman could both serve god.

That's rare today to find people who are honest on their spiritual walk.

Oakwood's current president, dr. leslie pollard, met little richard many times and says his time in huntsville... at oakwood... made it clear why he would want to return here to be buried.

The fingerprint of that experience never left him.

Huntsville councilman will culver says it will be a great honor for the city to welcome little richard back in a way that everyone who visits huntsville will be able to appreciate from here on.

It says that, first of all, our community embraces the kind of diversity that he embodies.

They'll be able to come to the rocket city to pay their respects to the man who helped rock and roll soar.

The beatles were opening for him at one point, not him for the beatles.

I mean you realize that when he said that he was the architect of rock and roll, i think he was right.

A private ceremony for little richard's family and close friends will be held wednesday morning