Fats Domino

He was born Antoine Domino in New Orleans in February 1928, and since his first professional appearance at the age of 14 at the celebrated Hideaway Club in New Orleans in 1942, the work of Fats Domino has been characterized and dominated by his pounding piano style. By the age of 22, Fats had capitalized on his unique style to make his first million-seller, The Fat Man.

With the success of the single, Fats and his group (The Fats Domino Band) toured extensively through America and gained outstanding acclaim. Throughout the 1950s he turned out a stream of classic rock & roll hits including Blueberry Hill, Ain't It A Shame, Poor Me, Please Leave Me and All By Myself, which between 1954 and 1959 all sold between three and five million copies!

Domino exemplified the postwar R&B of his home city: an insistent rolling or staccato piano, infectious beat, good solid horn section, and an appealing - usually jovial - vocal part. All of his records had the same magic. Some were more catchy than others, and as he became more popular the beat became a little heavier. Later a string section started appearing on his records, too. But basically his whole recording career was one long Mardi Gras mambo. 

The 1960s saw Fats reduce his recording work load and go into semi-retirement, although he was still an extremely popular nightclub act. In 1963 he had a massive British and American hit with Red Sails In The Sunset. It wasn't until 1967, though, that he first visited Britain, when Brian Epstein brought him over fro some concerts in London.

Despite criticisms that he had lost some of his originality, by 1970 his work had once again come to the fore, amid restated interest in the origins of rock & roll. In 1972 he appeared in the movie Let The Good Times Roll.

In the 1980s, Domino decided he would no longer leave New Orleans, having a comfortable income from royalties and a dislike for touring, and claiming he could not get any food that he liked anywhere else. Neither his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame or an invitation to perform at the White House could persuade him to make an exception to this policy.

Fats' New Orleans home was devastated during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 but both he and his family survived. He released a new album, Alive and Kickin', in early 2006.