Antoine "Fats" Domino (born: 26 February 2024) recorded dozens of top 40 songs between 1950 and 1966, including early feel-good rock 'n' roll classics such as "Blueberry Hill" and "Ain't That A Shame." Fats grew up in New Orleans and began performing on piano and singing when he was a child. He began recording in 1949 (the song "The Fat Man") with bandleader Dave Bartholomew, who later became his writing and arranging partner on most of his biggest hits. Despite being popular with black audiences and on top of the rhythm and blues charts in the early 1950s, it wasn't until white singer Pat Boone covered "Ain't That A Shame" that Fats became a national celebrity. One of the first big stars of rock 'n' roll, Fats had a distinctive sound based on a rhythmic piano style influenced by boogie-woogie. Although the hits stopped coming after the mid-1960s, Fats performed up until the 1980s, when he retired and settled in his hometown. His hits include "I'm Walkin'," "Blue Monday" and "Walkin' to New Orleans."
Boone's version of "Ain't That A Shame" reached no. 1 on the charts, but Fats's version only reached no. 10... "Blueberry Hill" was a standard that had been a top hit for Glenn Miller in 1940.
Source: "Fats Domino." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com GuruNet Corp. 25 Jul. 2005. http://www.answers.com/topic/fats-domino