Background

Fats Domino was born on February 26, 1928, in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States to the family of Antoine Caliste Domino and Marie-Donatille Gros. The family was of French Creole background. The youngest of eight children, Domino spoke Creole French before learning English. He grew up in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where he spent most of his life. When he was 7, his family inherited an old piano. After his brother-in-law Harrison Verrett, a traditional-jazz musician, wrote down the notes on the keys and taught him a few chords, Domino threw himself at the instrument - so enthusiastically that his parents moved it to the garage. He was almost entirely self-taught, picking up ideas from boogie-woogie masters like Meade Lux Lewis, Pinetop Smith, and Amos Milburn. By age 10, the talented boy was already performing as a singer and pianist.

Education

Fats Domino attended the Louis B. Macarty School but dropped out in the fourth grade to work as an iceman’s helper.

Career

In 1946, Domino started playing piano for the well-known New Orleans bass player and bandleader Billy Diamond, who gave Domino the nickname "Fats." Domino's rare musical talents quickly made him a sensation, and by 1949 he was drawing substantial crowds on his own.

In 1949, Fats Domino met collaborator Dave Bartholomew and signed to Imperial Records, where he would stay until 1963. Domino's first release was "The Fat Man" (1949), based on his nickname, a song co-written with Bartholomew. It became the first rock 'n' roll record to sell 1 million copies, peaking at No. 2 on the rhythm and blues charts. The two continued to churn out rhythm and blues hits and Top 100 records for years, with Domino's distinctive style of piano playing, accompanied by simple saxophone riffs, drum afterbeats, and his mellow baritone voice, making him stand out in the sea of 1950s rhythm and blues singers.

Fats Domino found mainstream success in 1955 with his song "Ain't It a Shame," covered by Pat Boone as "Ain't That a Shame"; Boone's version hit No. 1 on the pop charts, while Domino's original reached No. 10. The hit record increased Domino's visibility and record sales, and he soon re-recorded it under the revised name, which remains the popular title/version today. (It also happened to be the first song John Lennon learned to play on guitar.)

In 1956, Domino had five Top 40 hits, including “My Blue Heaven” and his cover of Glenn Miller's "Blueberry Hill," which hit No. 2 on the pop charts, Domino's top charting record ever. He cemented this popularity with appearances in two 1956 films, Shake, Rattle & Rock and The Girl Can't Help It, and his hit "The Big Beat" was featured on Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand in 1957.

Despite his enormous popularity among both white and black fans, when touring the country in the 1950s, Domino and his band were often denied lodging and had to utilize segregated facilities, at times driving miles away from the venue. Still, Domino continued to ride high on his success through the end of the decade, churning out more rocking hits like “Whole Lotta Loving" (1958), “I’m Ready" (1959) and “I Want to Walk You Home" (1959).

After recording an impressive 37 different Top 40 hits for the label, Fats Domino left Imperial Records in 1963 - later claiming "I stuck with them until they sold out" - and joined ABC-Paramount Records, this time without his longtime sidekick, Dave Bartholomew. Whether due to the change in sound or because of changing popular tastes, Domino found his music less commercially popular than before. By the time American pop music was revolutionized by the 1964 British Invasion, Domino's reign at the top of the charts had reached its end.

Domino left ABC-Paramount in 1965 and returned to New Orleans to collaborate once again with Dave Bartholomew. The pair recorded steadily until 1970 but only charted with one more single: "Lady Madonna," a cover of a Beatles song that, ironically, had been inspired by Domino's own musical style. Still, Domino's songs and New Orleans sound would continue to influence a generation of rock 'n' rollers as well as the growing ska music genre in Jamaica.

Domino continued to tour for the next two decades, but after a health scare experienced during tour dates in Europe in 1995, he rarely left New Orleans, preferring to live comfortably at home with his wife, Rosemary, and eight children off the royalties from his earlier recordings.

Despite being urged to leave New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina striking the city in 2005, Domino preferred to stay home with his wife, Rosemary, who was in poor health at the time. When the hurricane hit, Domino's Lower Ninth Ward home was badly flooded and the legendary musician lost virtually all of his possessions. Many feared that he was dead, but the Coast Guard rescued Domino and his family on September 1. Domino quickly put the rumors of his demise to rest, releasing the album Alive and Kickin' in 2006. A portion of the record sales went to New Orleans' Tipitina's Foundation, which helps local musicians in need.

After Katrina, Fats Domino made a few public appearances around his home city of New Orleans. Footage from a 2007 concert was captured for a documentary, Fats Domino: Walkin' Back to New Orleans, which aired the following year. A greatest hits album was also released around that time, allowing a whole new generation to fall for Fats Domino all over again.

In later years, Domino largely stayed out of the spotlight. His beloved wife died in 2008. The following year, he attended a benefit concert to watch such other musical legends like Little Richard and B.B. King perform but stayed off the stage. A documentary about his life, Fats Domino and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll premiered on PBS in 2016.

Achievements

• Fats Domino is a New Orleans rhythm-and-blues singer whose boogie-woogie piano and nonchalant vocals, heard on dozens of hits, made him one of the biggest stars of the early rock ’n’ roll era. Domino had more than three dozen Top 40 pop hits through the 1950s and early 1960s. Domino was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, but refused to attend the ceremony; likewise, he turned down an invitation to perform at the White House, though he accepted the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton in 1998. Four songs of Domino's have been named to the Grammy Hall of Fame for their significance in music history: “Blueberry Hill” in 1987, “Ain’t It A Shame” in 2002, “Walking to New Orleans" in 2011 and “The Fat Man” in 2016. Domino was also presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. He will be remembered as one of rock's earliest and most enduring stars, who helped break down color barriers in the music industry. He sold 65 million singles in those years, with 23 gold records, making him second only to Elvis Presley as a commercial force. Presley acknowledged Domino as a predecessor.

Works

More photos

• music

  • Rock & Rollin' with Fats Domino 1956
  • Fats Domino Rock & Rollin' 1956
  • This Is Fats Domino 1956
  • This Is Fats 1957
  • The Fabulous "Mr. D" 1958
  • Let's Play Fats Domino 1959
  • Fats Domino Sings Million Record Hits 1960
  • Lot Of Dominos! 1958
  • I Miss You So 1961
  • Let The Four Winds Blow 1961
  • What a Party 1961
  • Twistin' the Stomp 1962
  • Just Domino 1962
  • Walking To New Orleans 1963
  • Let's Dance with Domino 1963
  • Here He Comes Again! 1963
  • Here Comes... Fats Domino 1963
  • Fats on Fire 1964
  • Getaway With Fats Domino 1965
  • The Best of Fats Domino! 1966
  • Fats Is Back 1968
  • Sleeping on the Job 1972
  • Christmas Is a Special Day 1993
  • Alive And Kickin' 2006

Religion

Domino was born and raised Roman Catholic.

Politics

Fats Domino wasn't involved in any political movement and tended to keep private about his political views.

Views

Domino described his songwriting process as taking inspiration from everyday events. Domino believed the success of his music came from the rhythm.

Quotations: "Something that happened to someone, that's how I write all my songs. I used to listen to people talk every day, things would happen in real life. I used to go around different places, hear people talk. Sometimes I wasn't expecting to hear nothin', and my mind was very much on my music. Next thing I'd hear, I would either write it down or remember it good."

"A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J.O.B."

"You got to keep a good beat. The rhythm we play is from Dixieland - New Orleans."

Personality

A quiet and private man, after retirement Domino occasionally performed at local concerts and at the famed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival from time to time, but generally shunned publicity of all kinds. Katrina hurricane also devastated Domino personally. To raise money for repairs to Domino's home, friends and rock stars alike recorded a charity tribute album, Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. The likes of Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, and Elton John lent their support to the early rock pioneer.

Physical Characteristics: Rotund and standing 5' 4" (1.63 meters), Domino would joke that he was as wide as he was tall.

Quotes from others about the person

• “There wouldn’t have been a Beatles without Fats Domino.” - John Lennon

Interests

• jewelry

• Music & Bands

  Meade Lux Lewis, Pinetop Smith, Amos Milburn

Connections

In 1947 Fats Domino married Rosemary Hall, and they had eight children, Antoine III, Anatole, Andre, Antonio, Antoinette, Andrea, Anola, and Adonica. His wife died in 2008.

Father:

Antoine Caliste Domino

Mother:

Marie-Donatille Gros

Acquaintance:

Little Richard

Wife:

Rosemary Hall

Son:

Antoine III Domino

Son:

Anatole Domino

Son:

Andre Domino

Son:

Antonio Domino

Daughter:

Antoinette Domino

Daughter:

Andrea Domino

Daughter:

Anola Domino

Daughter:

Adonica Domino

colleague:

Dave Bartholomew

Acquaintance:

Elvis Presley

Acquaintance:

John Lennon

Acquaintance:

Paul McCartney

Acquaintance:

George Harrison

Acquaintance:

Ringo Starr

References

• Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll
  2007
• The Domino Affect: My journey with Fats Domino
  2017
• Legends of Rock & Roll - Fats Domino
  2011
• Fats Domino
  2018
• Fats Domino: The Image Always Stayed the Same and His Music Stayed True to His Fans
  2014
• Ray Charles and Fats Domino!
  2019