Chubby Checker

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Chubby Checker is the stage name of Ernest Evans (October 3, 1941—), an American singer best known for popularizing the dance The Twist with his 1960 song "The Twist".

He was born in Spring Gulley, South Carolina and grew up in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended South Philadelphia High School with Frankie Avalon and Fabian. Evans chose the name "Chubby Checker" as a take-off on then-popular singer Fats Domino. In 1964, he married Catharina Lodders, who had been Miss World in 1962.

Fame

"The Twist" (which had previously been a minor rhythm and blues hit for its author, Hank Ballard) was so popular that his public often did not allow him to sing any other style of music. He did popularize many dance songs.

Checker later lamented:

...in a way, "The Twist" really ruined my life. I was on my way to becoming a big nightclub performer, and "The Twist" just wiped it out. It got so out of proportion. No one ever believes I have talent.

He is the only recording artist to have five albums in the Top 12 all at once. He is the only artist to have a song reach #1 twice—"The Twist". He is hailed by many to have changed the way we dance to the beat of music since 1959.

Checker had a number of hits with dance-themed records into the mid-1960s, but changes in public taste ended his hitmaking career in 1965. He spent much of the rest of the 1960s touring and recording in Europe. The 1970s saw him become a staple on the oldies circuit and having a minor comeback as a disco artist.

Later years

His material during his 1960s heyday was recorded for Cameo-Parkway Records and became unavailable after the early 1970s. His later sixties material included a dancefloor classic cover version of The Beatles Back in the U.S.S.R, released on Buddah records. None of it was available on compact disc until 2005. (Almost all CD compilations of Checker's hits consist of re-recordings.)

Despite his negative view towards his biggest hit single, in the 1980s it granted him a new lease of fame when he recorded a new version of "The Twist" with rap trio The Fat Boys. Ironically, the lyrics to this new version implied he was pleased of his association with it. Cashing in once again on the song that made him a star, Checker sang it in a commercial for Oreo cookies in the early-1990s. He then opened his own restaurant, which he continues to run, as well as singing on a regular basis.

Hit songs

• "The Class"
• "Jingle Bell Rock" (with Bobby Rydell)
• "The Twist" (#1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19 in 1960 (one week) and on January 13 1962 (two weeks).
• "Slow Twistin'" (with Dee Dee Sharp)
• "Pony Time" (written by Don Covay)
• "Let's Twist Again"
• "Limbo Rock"
• "Dancin' Party"

"The Twist" and "Let's Twist Again" each sold more than 1 million copies around the world. The Twist was re-released in 1961 which became a bigger hit selling more than the original.

Trivia

• His daughter, Mistie Williams (née Bass), is a professional basketball player for the Houston Comets in the Women's National Basketball Association.

• Chubby Checker is mentioned in the School House Rock cartoon "A Noun Is A Person, Place, Or Thing." However, in what is perhaps the series' most famous error, they depicted him as a white man.

• Chubby Checker headlined the halftime show at Super Bowl XXII.

• Voiced a parody character of himself in the now closed Food Rocks attraction that ran at Epcot, appearing as Chubby Cheddar, a cheese hunk seen only in projected shadow puppetry.

External links

• [Official website]
• [Chubby Checker - King Of The Twist] - by Dr. Frank Hoffmann

 

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