Scatman John

Scatman John
Background information
Birth name	John Paul Larkin
Born	(1942-03-13)March 13, 1942 El Monte, California, U.S.
Died	December 3, 1999(1999-12-03) (aged 57) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Eurodance pop jazz scat rap
Occupations	Singer songwriter pianist
Instruments	Vocals piano
Years active	1981–1999
Labels	America RCA Iceberg Transition
Website	scatmanjohn.com

John Paul Larkin (March 13, 1942 – December 3, 1999), known professionally as Scatman John, was an American musician. A prolific jazz pianist and vocalist for several decades, he rose to prominence during the 1990s through his fusion of scat singing and dance music. He recorded five albums, which were released between 1986 and 2002.

In the United States and Europe, Larkin is recognized for his 1995 singles "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" and "Scatman's World". He achieved his greatest success in Japan, where his album Scatman's World (1995) sold over a million copies. Outside of his musical activities, he had deepened exchanges with stuttering organizations and established the Scatland Foundation in 1996 with the purpose of furthering research of and educating the public on stuttering.^[1] Larkin was a recipient of the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association's Annie Glenn Award for outstanding service to the stuttering community and a posthumous inductee to the National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame.