28 Facts About Fatboy Slim

Fatboy Slim's music makes extensive use of samples from eclectic genres, combined with pop structures, processed rhythms and "sloganistic" vocals.

Fatboy Slim formed the electronic group Beats International, who produced the number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me" 1990, and played in the band Freak Power.

Fatboy Slim released house records under names including Pizzaman and the Mighty Dub Katz.

In 1996, Cook released his first album as Fatboy Slim, Better Living Through Chemistry, followed by successful remixes for Wildchild and Cornershop.

Fatboy Slim collaborated with Byrne again on the album Here Lies Love, a concept album that was adapted into a stage musical in 2013.

Fatboy Slim's mother was a teacher in a hospital school, and his father was an environmentalist consultant who was appointed an Order of the British Empire for introducing bottle banks into the UK.

Fatboy Slim's family belonged to the Kosmon faith, an obscure religious order.

Fatboy Slim adopted the name Norman when he was bullied for the name Quentin, which his pupils associated with the gay actor Quentin Crisp.

Fatboy Slim appeared as a porter in the music video for the 1982 song "Goody Two Shoes" by Adam Ant.

Fatboy Slim was interested in hip-hop and dance music, but felt no one would take him seriously and that it was inappropriate for a white English man to work in this genre.

Fatboy Slim was uncomfortable with acts such as Level 42 or Simply Red, who he felt "kind of pretend to be black".

Fatboy Slim created a megamix, "The Finest Ingredients", that was played by the BBC DJ John Peel.

Fatboy Slim invested in further equipment, including a mixing console, an eight-track reel-to-reel, an Atari ST computer, an Akai S950 sampler and, later, a Roland TB-303 synthesiser.

Fatboy Slim formed a sound system collective, Beats International, with a collection of MCs and singers.

Fatboy Slim released the first Fatboy Slim album, Better Living Through Chemistry, in 1996 on Skint.

Fatboy Slim turned down an offer from the Pet Shop Boys to produce their next album, as he liked their music but felt it did not suit his style.

Fatboy Slim tracks were used extensively in adverts, film and television.

Fatboy Slim contributed production to "Crazy Beat" and "Gene by Gene" on the 2003 Blur album Think Tank.

Fatboy Slim returned many times in the following years, and performed on the reality TV show Big Brother Brasil in 2005.

Fatboy Slim played an unadvertised concert at Glastonbury 2009, and headlined the east dance stage at Glastonbury 2010.

Fatboy Slim performed a secret gig at the Prince Albert pub in Brighton to support its campaign against property development in the North Laine.

Fatboy Slim said he was unable to write traditional songs.

Fatboy Slim creates drum tracks by sampling individual drum hits from vinyl break beats, then programming new patterns.

Fatboy Slim began using a MacBook with Ableton Live, but found the lack of limits and no opportunity to "bend the rules" made the process less exciting.

Fatboy Slim took accusations that he had "made dance music for people who don't like dance music" as a compliment, saying he made it more accessible.

Fatboy Slim resisted pressure from record companies to perform with live musicians, as he felt the appeal of his music was in "the grit and character" of the samples, and to recreate them would be "like hearing a wedding covers band".

Fatboy Slim has owned or co-owned a Japanese restaurant Brighton, Oki-Nami, and the Spotted Pig, a Michelin-starred gastropub in New York City that closed in 2016.

Fatboy Slim collects objects bearing the smiley symbol, and in 2019 he curated a smiley exhibition in Lisbon with the Portuguese artist Vhils.