Fats domino where is he now

In an instant, everything lightens. Domino—who was born Antoine Domino, Jr. He was eighty-nine. At nineteen, he was nicknamed Fats by the bandleader Billy Diamond, who thought his style was reminiscent of the work of Fats Waller, a jazz pianist from Harlem. In , while working in a mattress factory, Domino cut his first r. When Domino was 7, his brother-in-law Harrison Verret taught him to play the piano and introduced him to the vibrant New Orleans music scene; by age 10, the talented boy was already performing as a singer and pianist.

At 14, Domino dropped out of high school to pursue his musical dreams, taking on odd jobs like factory work and hauling ice to make ends meet. He was inspired by the likes of boogie-woogie piano players like Meade Lux Lewis and singers like Louis Jordan. In , Domino started playing piano for the well-known New Orleans bass player and band leader Billy Diamond, who gave Domino the nickname "Fats.

He reminded me of Fats Waller and Fats Pichon. In , Domino met collaborator Dave Bartholomew and signed to Imperial Records, where he would stay until Domino's first release was "The Fat Man" , 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. It also happened to be the first song John Lennon learned to play on guitar. Despite his enormous popularity among both White and Black fans, when touring the country in the s, Domino and his band were often denied lodging and had to utilize segregated facilities, at times driving miles away from the venue.

Domino described his songwriting process as taking inspiration from everyday events: "Something that happened to someone, that's how I write all my songs," he explained.

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. The rhythm we play is from Dixieland — New Orleans.

After recording an impressive 37 different Top 40 hits for the label, Domino left Imperial Records in — 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 British Invasion, Domino's reign at the top of the charts had reached its end.

The pair recorded steadily until , 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. He never managed that again. Domino was reduced to night clubs and Las Vegas. But his vice was gambling, and trying to work off his debts by touring only kept him in the Vegas trap.

Worry thinned him. He was still at it in London at the Royal Festival Hall in , and the Royal Albert Hall in , his mike still placed so that he took up a supplicating pose, crouched down, head twisted round and upwards, radiant smile fixed on the punters in the circle. His performance ended when he tried the piano stomach-push in Sheffield, and was taken to hospital with breathing problems.

He would not tour again, restricting his live appearances to his home city of New Orleans. He was at home when his house was one of those ruined by Hurricane Katrina in His daughter Karen, living in New Jersey, recognised him in a newspaper photograph of survivors at a shelter in Baton Rouge. It was months before Domino could revisit his home and reportedly only three of his many gold discs were retrieved.

A year later, at the festival, he gave what would be his last performance, of just five songs. He was one of the few true giants of postwar American popular music: no one sounded like him, yet ask who he influenced, and the answer is everyone.

Fats Domino obituary: giant of American music.