Fats Domino

Fats Domino
Domino in 1962
Born
Antoine Caliste Domino Jr.

(1928-02-26)February 26, 1928
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedOctober 24, 2017(2017-10-24) (aged 89)
Harvey, Louisiana, U.S.
Other names
  • Fats
  • The Fat Man
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • pianist
Years active1942–2016
Spouse
Rosemary Hall
​
​
(m. 1947; died 2008)​
Children8
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
Labels

Antoine Caliste Domino Jr.[1] (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records.[2] Born in New Orleans to a French Creole family, Domino signed to Imperial Records in 1949. His first single "The Fat Man" is cited by some historians as the first rock and roll single and the first to sell more than 1 million copies.[3][4] Domino continued to work with the song's co-writer Dave Bartholomew, contributing his distinctive rolling piano style to Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (1952) and scoring a string of mainstream hits beginning with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955). Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 US pop hits.[5] By 1955, five of his records had sold more than a million copies, being certified gold.[6]

Domino was shy and modest by nature but made a significant contribution to the rock and roll genre.[7] Elvis Presley declared Domino a "huge influence on me when I started out" and when they first met in 1959, described him as "the real king of rock 'n' roll". The Beatles were also heavily influenced by Domino.[8][9]

Four of Domino's records were named to the Grammy Hall of Fame for their significance: "Blueberry Hill", "Ain't That a Shame", "Walking to New Orleans" and "The Fat Man".[3] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986. The Associated Press estimates that during his career, Domino "sold more than 110 million records".[10]

  1. ^ Pareles, Jon; William Grimes (October 25, 2017). "Fats Domino, Early Rock 'n' Roller With a Boogie-Woogie Piano, Is Dead at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  2. ^ O'Connor, Roisin (October 25, 2017). "Fats Domino dead: Rock and roll legend dies, aged 89". The Independent. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Fats Domino". Biography.com. September 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  4. ^ "Fats Domino, 1928–2017". Grammy.com. October 25, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  5. ^ Browne, David (October 25, 2017). "Fats Domino, Rock and Roll Pioneer, Dead at 89". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Friedlander was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Light, Alan (February 23, 2016). "'The Big Beat' Celebrates Fats Domino, Rock's Reclusive Giant". The New York Times. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  8. ^ Leight, Elias (October 26, 2017). "Paul McCartney Remembers 'Truly Magnificent' Fats Domino". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  9. ^ Manning, Evan (October 26, 2017). "Remembering Fats Domino: The Beatles, Elvis Presley and the real king of rock 'n' roll". National Post. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  10. ^ "Fats Domino dead: Rock n' roll pioneer dead at 89". Globalnews.ca. Retrieved June 10, 2021.