R.I.P. Fats Domino

[youtube id=”ardeW1HPhH0″] Rock and Roll pioneer Fats Domino died at his home in Harvey, Louisiana yesterday at age 89 of natural causes. Domino was one of the biggest stars of the ’50s and ’60s with only Elvis Presley as a rival in terms of record sales. Domino’s boogie-woogie influenced R&B took over the national airwaves with songs like “The Fat Man”  “Blueberry Hill ” and “Ain’t That A Shame.” The singer’s warm smile and demeanor made it easy for Black and white people to connect with his music during segregation. His concerts are one of the things cited for building integration before the end of Jim Crow laws. Domino’s music was one of the centers to pave the way for rock and white artists like Pat Boone and John Lennon studied his style and covered his songs. In 1986, he was one of the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. He has received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2016 he was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall Of Fame. There was a rumor that he had passed in 2005 when he was not heard from during Hurricane Katrina but a national news report showed him being rescued from his flooded home. He made his last stage appearance in 2007 at Tipitina’s in his native New Orleans. Last year PBS aired Joe Lauro’s 2016 documentary American Masters: Fats Domino and the Birth Of Rock and Roll. Watch below: