Rock & Roll Pioneer Fats Domino 1928 – 2017

Pioneering rocker Fats Domino, a man who sold more records than anyone in the ’50s not named “Elvis Presley,” has died. TMZ reports the famed New Orleans singing piano man was surrounded by his friends and family when he passed, according to his daughter.

Antoine “Fats” Domino was born in the Crescent City on February 26, 1928. He went on to learn piano from guitarist Harrison Verrett, who was his brother-in-law. “The Fat Man” was Domino’s debut record, which came out in 1949 and is considered one of the earliest rock singles. Fats scored huge hits throughout the ’50s including such beloved classics as “Ain’t That A Shame,” “Blueberry Hill” and “I’m Walkin’.”

Domino recorded 60 singles for Imperial Records until the label was sold in 1963. Forty of them placed in the top 10 on the R&B charts. Fats eventually decided to stay in his native New Orleans in the ’80s, but did change his mind and his last tour took place in 1995. The first class of inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame included Fats in 1986. Domino’s house was in an area flooded by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Fats needed to be rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter and was taken to a shelter in Baton Rouge. The president at the time, George W. Bush, went to Fats’ home and gave him a new version of the National Medal Of Arts original bestowed on Domino by President Bill Clinton.

Fats Domino was 89.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbfMlk1PwGU