Today we lost one of the greats. Fats Domino, the boogie-woogie piano man, and pioneer of early rock n roll.
His incredible career achievements include 35 records in the U.S. Billboard Top 40, and five of his pre-1955 records sold more than a million copies, being certified gold. During 1955 to 1960, he had eleven top 10 hits and his record sales were reportedly surpassed only by Elvis Presley. During his career, Domino sold over 65 million records. His musical style was based on traditional rhythm and blues, accompanied by saxophones, bass, piano, electric guitar, and drums - cited by the biggest rock bands of all time as an influence.
Domino crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955), which reached the Top Ten. Pat Boone's milder cover version reached number 1, having received wider radio airplay in a racially segregated era. In 1955, he was said to be earning $10,000 a week while touring, according to a report in the memoir of artist Chuck Berry. Domino eventually had 37 Top 40 singles but none made it to number 1 on the Pop chart.
His 1956 recording of "Blueberry Hill", a 1940 song by Vincent Rose, Al Lewis and Larry Stock (which had previously been recorded by Gene Autry, Louis Armstrong and others), reached number 2 in the Top 40 and was number 1 on the R&B chart for 11 weeks. It was his biggest hit, selling more than 5 million copies worldwide in 1956 and 1957. Domino had further hit singles between 1956 and 1959, including "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" (#14), "I'm Walkin'" (#4), "Valley of Tears" (#8), "It's You I Love" (#6), "Whole Lotta Loving" (#6), "I Want to Walk You Home" (#8), and "Be My Guest" (#8).
Domino appeared in two films released in 1956: Shake, Rattle & Rock! and The Girl Can't Help It.
One of many live albums, Live at Montreaux, was released in 1974.
