When Fats Domino headlines the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, it's more than an eagerly anticipated weekend, it's genuine front page news. That's why the New Orleans Times-Picayune devoted practically its entire Sunday front section to a joint interview with the Fat Man and his longtime producer/co-writer Dave Bartholomew when Fats headlined the '99 Jazz Fest. And that's why the massive assemblage of Domino fans at the 2001 edition of the festival was so universally stoked to see him reprise his many million sellers. As always, the obliging Fats did 'em just the way he did back in the 1955 when he emerged from New Orleans to become one of rock-and-roll's first stars.

Fats Domino still lives in New Orleans with his wife with whom he has had eight children. His awards have been many, including Grammy's Lifetime Achievement and his induction in 1986 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.