53 Facts About Fats Domino

1.

One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records.

2.

Fats Domino continued to work with the song's co-writer Dave Bartholomew, contributing his distinctive rolling piano style to Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" and scoring a string of mainstream hits beginning with "Ain't That a Shame".

3.

Fats Domino was shy and modest by nature but made a significant contribution to the rock and roll genre.

4.

Fats Domino was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986.

5.

The Associated Press estimates that during his career, Fats Domino "sold more than 110 million records".

6.

The Fats Domino family was of French Creole background, and Louisiana Creole was his first language.

7.

Fats Domino's name was initially misspelled as Anthony on his birth certificate.

8.

Fats Domino's family had recently arrived in the Lower Ninth Ward from Vacherie, Louisiana.

9.

Fats Domino's father was a part-time violin player who worked at a racetrack.

10.

Fats Domino attended the Louis B Macarty School, leaving to start work as a helper to an ice delivery man.

11.

Fats Domino learned to play the piano in about 1938 from his brother-in-law, the jazz guitarist Harrison Verrett.

12.

Fats Domino played well enough that Diamond asked him to join his band, the Solid Senders, at the Hideaway Club in New Orleans, where he would earn $3 a week playing the piano.

13.

Fats Domino was signed to the Imperial Records label in 1949 by owner Lew Chudd, to be paid royalties based on sales instead of a fee for each song.

14.

Fats Domino released a series of hit songs with Bartholomew, the saxophonists Herbert Hardesty and Alvin "Red" Tyler, the bassist Billy Diamond and later Frank Fields, and the drummers Earl Palmer and Smokey Johnson.

15.

Fats Domino crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" which reached the Top Ten.

16.

In 1955, Fats Domino was said to be earning $10,000 a week while touring, according to a report in Chuck Berry's memoir.

17.

Fats Domino eventually had 37 Top 40 singles, but none made it to number 1 on the Pop chart.

18.

Fats Domino was featured in a movie of the same name.

19.

Fats Domino jumped out a window to avoid the melee; he and two members of his band were slightly injured.

20.

In November 1957, Fats Domino appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show; no disturbance accompanied this performance.

21.

Fats Domino had a steady series of hits for Imperial through early 1962, including "Walking to New Orleans", co-written by Bobby Charles, and "My Girl Josephine" in the same year.

22.

Fats Domino toured Europe in 1962 and met the Beatles who would later cite Domino as an inspiration.

23.

Imperial Records was sold in early 1963, and Fats Domino left the label.

24.

Fats Domino was assigned a new producer and a new arranger.

25.

Fats Domino released 11 singles for ABC-Paramount, several which hit the Top 100 but just once entering the Top 40.

26.

Fats Domino shifted to that label after Broadmoor and had a Top 100 single, a cover of the Beatles' "Lady Madonna".

27.

Fats Domino continued to be popular as a performer for several decades.

28.

Fats Domino made a cameo appearance in Clint Eastwood's movie Any Which Way You Can, filmed in 1979 and released in 1980, singing the country song "Whiskey Heaven", which later became a minor hit.

29.

In 1986, Fats Domino was one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

30.

Fats Domino received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987.

31.

Fats Domino's last album for a major label, Christmas Is a Special Day, was released in 1993.

32.

Fats Domino lived in a mansion in a predominantly working-class neighborhood in the Lower Ninth Ward, where he was a familiar sight in his bright pink Cadillac automobile.

33.

Fats Domino declined an invitation to perform at the White House.

34.

Fats Domino's house was in an area that was heavily flooded.

35.

Later that day, CNN reported that Fats Domino had been rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter.

36.

On January 12,2007, Fats Domino was honored with OffBeat magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Best of the Beat Awards, held at the House of Blues in New Orleans.

37.

Fats Domino returned to stage on May 19,2007, at Tipitina's at New Orleans, performing to a full house.

38.

Later that year, a Vanguard record was released, Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino featuring his songs as recorded by Elton John, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Norah Jones, Lenny Kravitz, and Lucinda Williams.

39.

In September 2007, Fats Domino was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

40.

In May 2009, Fats Domino made an unexpected appearance in the audience for the Fats Domino Effect, a concert featuring Little Richard and other artists, aimed at raising funds to help rebuild schools and playgrounds damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

41.

In October 2012, Fats Domino was featured in season three of the television series Treme, playing himself.

42.

Fats Domino died on October 24,2017, at his home in Harvey, Louisiana, at the age of 89, from natural causes, according to the coroner's office.

43.

Fats Domino was one of the biggest stars of rock and roll in the 1950s, but he was not convinced that this was a new genre.

44.

Fats Domino's biographer Rick Coleman argues that Domino's records and tours with rock and roll shows in that decade, bringing together Black and white youths in a shared appreciation of his music, was a factor in the breakdown of racial segregation in the United States.

45.

Fats Domino returned to the "Hot 100" chart for the last time in 1968, with his recording of "Lady Madonna".

46.

That recording, as well as covers of two other songs by the Beatles, appeared on his Reprise album Fats Domino Is Back, produced by Richard Perry and with several hits recorded by a band that included the New Orleans pianist James Booker.

47.

Fats Domino was present in the audience of 2,200 people at Elvis Presley's first concert at the Las Vegas Hilton on July 31,1969.

48.

At a press conference after the show, when a journalist referred to Presley as "The King", Presley gestured toward Fats Domino, who was taking in the scene.

49.

In 2007, various artists came together for a tribute to Fats Domino, recording a live session containing only his songs.

50.

Musicians performing on the album, Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, included Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and Elton John.

51.

Robert Christgau wrote that Fats Domino was "the most widely liked rock and roller of the '50s" and remarked on his influence:.

52.

Fats Domino's rhythm, accentuating the offbeat, as in the song "Be My Guest", was an influence on ska music.

53.

Fats Domino was married to Rosemary Fats Domino from 1947 until her death in 2008; the couple had eight children: Antoine III, Anatole, Andre, Antonio, Antoinette, Andrea, Anola, and Adonica.