56 Facts About Dr John

Dr John typically performed a lively, theatrical stage show inspired by medicine shows, Mardi Gras costumes, and voodoo ceremonies.

Dr John was the son of Dorothy and Malcolm John Rebennack, and had German, Irish, Spanish, English, and French heritage.

Dr John's father ran an appliance shop in the East End of New Orleans, fixing radios and televisions and selling records.

Dr John did not take music lessons before his teens and endured only a short stint in choir before getting kicked out.

Dr John's father exposed him as a young boy to jazz musicians King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, who later inspired his 2014 release, Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch.

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Dr John later recalled that his debut in the studio, in about 1955 or 1956, came when he was signed as a songwriter and artist by Eddie Mesner at Aladdin Records.

Dr John joined the musicians' union at the end of 1957, with the help of Danny Kessler, and then considered himself to be a professional musician.

Dr John formed his first band, The Dominoes, while at the school.

Dr John's first rock and roll song "Lights Out", sung by Jerry Byrne, was a regional hit.

Dr John had a regional hit with a Bo Diddley-influenced instrumental called "Storm Warning" on Rex Records in 1959.

Dr John oversaw the rhythm section while Miller wrote the horn arrangements and headed up the horns.

Dr John was arrested on drug charges and sentenced to two years in the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth.

Dr John's sentence ended in 1965 and he left for Los Angeles.

Dr John kept an assortment of snakes and lizards, along with embalmed scorpions and animal and human skulls, and sold gris-gris, voodoo amulets which supposedly protect the wearer from harm.

Dr John's act combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues with psychedelic rock and elaborate stage shows that bordered on voodoo religious ceremonies, including elaborate costumes and headdress.

In 2003, Dr John's Gumbo was ranked number 404 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

In 1973, with Allen Toussaint producing and The Meters backing, Dr John released the seminal New Orleans funk album In the Right Place.

Dr John attempted to capitalize on In the Right Places successful formula, again collaborating with Allen Toussaint and The Meters, for his next album, Desitively Bonnaroo – from part of which a Tennessee festival took as its name – released in 1974.

Dr John delivered one of a number of eulogies and performed with singer Jimmy Scott at Pomus' funeral on March 17,1991 in New York City.

In 1981 and 1983, Dr John recorded two solo piano albums, Dr John Plays Mac Rebennack and The Brightest Smile in Town, for the Baltimore-based Clean Cuts label.

Dr John was a prominent session musician throughout his career.

Dr John provided back-up vocals on the Rolling Stones' 1972 song "Let It Loose", and backed Carly Simon and James Taylor in their duet of "Mockingbird" in 1974, and Neil Diamond on Beautiful Noise in 1976.

Dr John contributed the song "More and More" to Simon's Playing Possum album.

Dr John played on three songs on Maria Muldaur's 1973 solo debut album, including his composition "Three Dollar Bill".

Dr John sang on four songs and played piano on two songs on Muldaur's 1992 Louisiana Love Call.

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Dr John was co-producer on Van Morrison's 1977 album A Period of Transition and played keyboards and guitar.

Dr John performed on the March 19,1977, episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live.

Dr John played keyboards on the highly successful 1979 solo debut album by Rickie Lee Jones.

Dr John toured with Willy DeVille and contributed to his albums Return to Magenta, Victory Mixture, Backstreets of Desire, and Big Easy Fantasy.

Dr John's music was featured in many films, including "New Looks" in National Lampoon's European Vacation in 1985 and "Such a Night" in Colors in 1988.

In 1992, Dr John released the album Goin' Back to New Orleans, which included many classic songs from New Orleans.

Dr John performed as the first American artist at the Franco Follies festival in 1992.

Dr John wrote and performed the score for the film version of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row released in 1982.

Dr John's hit song "Right Place Wrong Time" was used extensively in the movies Dazed and Confused, Sahara and the series American Horror Story: Coven.

Dr John was featured in several video and audio blues and New Orleans piano lessons published by Homespun Tapes.

Frontman Jason Pierce, a fan of Dr John's music, reciprocated by guesting on Dr John's 1998 album Anutha Zone along with drummer Damon Reece and guitarist Thighpaulsandra.

Dr John recorded the live album Trippin' Live with drummer Herman V Ernest III, David Barard, bass, Tommy Moran, guitar, trumpeter Charlie Miller, tenor Red Tyler, and baritone sax Ronnie Cuber.

On May 12,2006, Dr John recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road.

Dr John's performance was aired alongside those of LeAnn Rimes and Massive Attack on the Sundance Channel in the US and Channel 4 in the UK.

Dr John performed the opening theme music to the PBS children's program Curious George, broadcast since 2006.

On July 30,2006, Dr John performed a solo piano benefit for New Orleans composer and arranger Wardell Quezergue at a New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund benefit at the Black Orchid Theatre in Chicago.

In January 2008, Dr John was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Dr John reigned as King of the Krewe du Vieux for the 2010 New Orleans Mardi Gras season.

On May 13,2010, Dr John played alongside The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and was warmly greeted by Jimmy's first guest, Keith Richards.

In June 2010, Dr John played at the Glastonbury festival, Shepton Mallet, UK.

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Dr John played keyboards and had a major role in shaping Gregg Allman's 2011 album Low Country Blues, which was produced by T-Bone Burnett.

In 2012, Dr John released Locked Down, a collaboration with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who produced the record and played guitar on it.

The Los Angeles Times said that it showed Dr John "exiting a period of relative creative stagnation by creating something magical, the embodiment of everything he's done but pushed in a clear new direction".

In 2014, Dr John released a Louis Armstrong tribute album, Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch, on Concord Records USA and Proper Records in Europe.

Dr John described the inspiration of the album as Louis Armstrong coming to him in a dream and telling him "do my music your way".

Dr John recorded "Let 'Em In" in the Paul McCartney tribute album The Art of McCartney.

From 2014 to 2016, Dr John performed with an alternate band, including at a Hollywood Bowl tribute "Yes We Can Can" for his late friend Allen Toussaint on July 20,2016.

Dr John's birth date was corrected in 2018 when his hometown newspaper, The Times-Picayune, discovered in their records that he was actually born on November 20,1941, as opposed to the commonly listed November 21,1940.

Dr John added a year to his age as an underage prodigy with a local hit, so he could get into gigs.

Dr John was married twice, and told The New York Times that he had "a lot" of children.

Dr John had a heroin addiction; however, in December 1989, he completed his final rehabilitation stint with the help of Narcotics Anonymous, and remained clean for the rest of his life.