Celebrity Birthday: Rock-n-Roll Pioneer Fats Domino Turns 85

Today (Feb 26) legendary singer and pianist Antoine 'Fats' Domino celebrates his 85th birthday. His first hit was in 1950 with a song titled "The Fat Man" which historians have suggested, because of it's heavy backbeat, rolling piano and Fats "wah-wah" vocals, was one of the early rock-n-roll songs. It was also a million selling record.Fats Domino scored a dozen top ten R&B hits before his first pop success in 1955 with the top 10 hit "Ain't It A Shame" (also known as "Ain't That A Shame"). Fats had several other pop hits including "I'm Walkin'", "Blue Monday," I'm In Love Again" and "Walkin' To New Orleans" but is probably best remembered by his classic "Blueberry Hill".

Fats Domino's influenced a number of artists including Paul McCartney who allegedly wrote the Beatles song, "Lady Madonna" in the Fats Domino style. In 1968, Fats did a cover version of "Lady Madonna" that charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

In August 2005, it was rumored Fats Domino had died during Hurricane Katrina as both his home and office, (pictured), were heavily damaged during the storm and no one was able to contact or find him. It was later discovered he had stayed in New Orleans during the storm with his wife Rosemary. He was finally located some weeks after the storm.

In addition to occasional personal appearances and musical performances, in 2012 Fats Domino appeared in season 3 of the HBO television series "Treme" which follows the lives of people in New Orleans rebuilding their lives after hurricane Katrina.