'Fats' Domino, boogie-woogie pianist who helped launch rock-and-roll, dies at 89
Source: The Washington Post
By Terence McArdle October 25 at 10:38 AM
Antoine Fats Domino, the jovial New Orleans entertainer whose bluesy singing and boogie-woogie piano style helped launch rock-and-roll in the 1950s with such rollicking songs as Blueberry Hill, Ain't That a Shame and I'm Walkin, died Oct. 24. He was 89.
Mark Bone, chief investigator with the Jefferson Parish coroners office in Louisiana, confirmed his death to the Associated Press. Additional details were not immediately available.
Among the early rockers, Mr. Domino was rivaled only by Elvis Presley in record sales. He dominated Billboard magazine's pop and rhythm-and-blues charts from 1955 to 1963. Moreover, Mr. Domino's signature piano triplets three notes for every beat became the basis of rock and pop ballads for the next three decades, including such diverse recordings as the Beatles' Oh, Darling, Otis Redding's These Arms of Mine and even Percy Faith's Theme From A Summer Place.
In a music style identified with rebellion, Mr. Domino wasn't very rebellious in his approach. Unlike Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and any number of other flamboyant performers, he sang in a mellow voice and sported a wide grin on stage. His lone gimmick involved using his immense girth to push the piano to the front of the stage and this he did only during his encore.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/fats-domino-boogie-woogie-pianist-who-helped-launch-rock-and-roll-dies-at-89/2017/10/25/953a48ca-b98e-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html
irisblue
(33,019 posts)rest in peace & music
mac56
(17,574 posts)Yavin4
(35,445 posts)Aristus
(66,446 posts)He joins great actor Robert Guillaume (died the same age yesterday) in the vast beyond, where there is likely to be some incredible entertainment.
Jim__
(14,083 posts)hamsterjill
(15,223 posts)A great loss to music. May he rest in peace, and may his family and friends find comfort and peace themselves.
Floyd R. Turbo
(26,570 posts)DFW
(54,436 posts)JenniferJuniper
(4,515 posts)Hall of Fame inductees - Jerry Lee, Little Richard, and one of the Everly Brothers.
The greats from the early days of rock will soon all be gone.
Kingofalldems
(38,469 posts)FuzzyRabbit
(1,969 posts)The Seattle Center Coliseum was packed with every sort of person you can imagine. The very young (babes in mothers arms) to the very old, every ethnicity on earth, the extremely wealthy and extremely poor and people in wheelchairs as well as the very fit.
The music was great and everyone had a good time. What a life, to be able to bring that kind of happiness to that many people.
Thanks, Antoine, for doing a show 25 years ago that I can remember so well today.
watrwefitinfor
(1,400 posts)I saw him in 1957 at the old Charlotte Coliseum. Fantastic show. And the saxophone player almost stole the show from Fats when he serenaded us with the baritone sax.
That was Herb Hardesty, who just died last year.
http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/herb-hardesty-best-known-as-fats-dominos-saxophonist-dies-at-91/362631252
RIP to Fats and Herb. What music they made together.
Wat
turbinetree
(24,713 posts)red dog 1
(27,845 posts)You will be missed!
BumRushDaShow
(129,376 posts)Another great gone... just like that.
R.I.P. to a trailblazer and condolences to his family. Your music will live on!