Date of Birth

21 May 1904, New York City, New York, USA

Date of Death

15 December 1943, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Birth Name

Thomas Wright Waller

Thomas Waller was born in 1904. He was one of the most important pianist in the history of jazz. He studied piano with James P. Johnson, one of the masters of the stride piano in the 1920s. Fats began recording his first piano solos in 1923. He worked in the revue "Hot Chocolates" in the late 1920s as a composer. Along with Duke Ellington, he is one of the most prolific composers in jazz. His best songs are, "Ain't misbehavin", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Black and Blue", "Blue Turned Grey Over You" and "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now". He formed his own group in 1934, Fats Waller and his Rhythm, and recorded many records for RCA Victor. Two of his most notable film appearances were in Stormy Weather (1943) and _King of Burlesque (1935)_. He died in 1943 on a train during a trip to California. He was just 39 years old.

Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989.

Jazz pianist and vocalist.

Before his solo career, he played with many performers, from Erskine Tate to Bessie Smith.

So popular was he that one evening in Chicago in 1926, he was kidnapped by four henchmen and driven to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by infamous gangster Al Capone. He found out he was the "surprise entertainment" for Capone's birthday party!

His nickname came about because he weighed nearly 300 pounds. His weight and extreme drinking habits are believed to been contributors to his death. Waller died of pneumonia aboard an eastbound train in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, following a West Coast engagement.

Son of a Baptist minister.

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

Price:  £465.00