Chubby Checker - Biography

Last Editor: bennett_trish				Chubby Checker Biography -   Name : Chubby Checker Profession : Singer Birth name : Ernest Evans Nickname : Checker (NOT Chubby) Personal quotes : [To Bill Takacs (an IMDb biography writer), who in 1979 met him on a flight to New York from Johannesburg, South Africa (he had been performing in nea Spouse : Catherina Lodders (12 April 1964 - present) 3 children Trade mark : Popularized the Twist; a dance craze that swept the world in the early 1960s.

Chubby Checker Trivia -

His wife, Catherina, is a former Miss World from Holland. His name, Chubby Checker, is a play on the name of another famous singer of his era, Fats Domino. Rumor always had it that Chubby was a Philly chicken-plucker before he made it big with The Twist. His daughter, Mistie Williams, plays basketball at Duke University.

Chubby Checker Detailed Biography -

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. "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. His material during his 1960s heyday was recorded for Cameo-Parkway Records and became unavailable after the early 1970s. 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 commerical 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.