The Fat Man

"'After John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Fats Domino and his partner, Dave Bartholomew, were probably the greatest team of songwriters ever,' Dr. John told Rolling Stone in 2004. 'They always had a simple melody, a hip set of chord changes, and a cool groove. And their songs all had simple lyrics; that's the key.' Domino himself, who preferred to let his music rather than image do the talking, was typically modest about his accomplishments: 'Everybody started callin' my music rock and roll,' he once said, 'but it wasn't anything but the same rhythm and blues I'd been playin' down in New Orleans.'"

David Browne at Rolling Stone writes an obituary for Fats Domino.