
Fats Domino
One of nine kids in his family, Antoine Dominique Domino was born
on
February 26, 1928,
in New Orleans, Louisiana. To make a living, at 21
years of age “The
Fat Man” was performing
at the Hideaway Club and
other small venues in New Orleans when he
signed a recording contract
with Imperial Records and cut several songs including his first R&B
hit,
“The Fat Man” in 1949.
An immediate success in the era before the official birth of rock
n’ roll,
Fats Domino’s bluesy,
boogie-woogie style of music would dominate
the Rhythm and Blues
and Pop charts for most
of the 50’s, with “Goin’
Home” in 1952 and
the remake of Glenn Miller’s recording, “Ain’t
That a Shame” that was “Fats” first top
ten hit on the pop charts
in the summer
of 1955. “All by Myself” and “Poor Me” also
would hit
the
top of the R&B surveys.
Appearing in motion pictures, “Shake, Rattle and Roll” and “The
Girl Can’t Help It”,
Fats Domino charted six times in 1956, with “Bo Weevil”,
“I’m
In Love Again”, “My Blue Heaven”, “When My Dreamboat
Comes Home” “So Long” and his chart topper, “Blueberry Hill”.
Touring with the “Biggest Show of Stars for 57” Fats
hit with an amazing
11 songs including, “Blue Monday”, “I’m Walkin”, “Valley
of Tears”
“It’s You I Love”, “When I See You”, “Wait and See”, The Big Beat”
and “I Want You to Know”.
The year 1958 brought
“Sick and Tired” and “Whole Lotta Love.”
Ending a decade of dominance of the Hit Parade, Fats landed eight
more times in 1959.
Among those hits were, “I’m Ready”, “I
Want to
Walk You Home”, “I’m Gonna Be A
Wheel Someday” and “Be My
Guest”. Among the ten
additional Fats Domino singles
to chart in 1960 were, “Walking to New Orleans”, Don’t
Come Knockin”, “
Three Nights a Week” and “My Girl Josephine”.
During his recording career, Fats Domino is credited
with selling
more
than 110 million records, was on the pop
charts 37 times and t
he Rhythm and Blues charts 59 times.
Fats Domino was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1986,
has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
and received a Lifetime
Achievement
Award in the 29th
Grammy ceremony in 1987.
