Chubby Checker

Born Ernest Evans in 1941 in Spring Gully, South Carolina, and raised in Philadelphia, Chubby Checker emerged at the turn of the 1960s as a rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer with a strong dance orientation. Noticed by the Cameo-Parkway label in the late 1950s, Chubby Checker recorded his 1960 version of “The Twist,” a cover of a Hank Ballard song, which broadly popularized the twist dance across American and international popular culture. The records “Twist with Chubby Checker” (1960), “For Twisters Only” (1960), “It’s Pony Time” (1961), “Let’s Twist Again” (1961), and “Limbo Party” (1962) extended this cycle of songs built around new dance steps, brisk tempos, repetitive refrains, and simple structures that encouraged audience participation. Throughout the 1960s, Chubby Checker appeared in musical films centered on these dances and made frequent appearances on television programs aimed at teenage audiences. Thereafter, he maintained a steady performing career in the United States and Europe, alternating themed tours devoted to early rock and roll with occasional recordings in which his style remained characterized by a blend of rock, R&B, and dance-oriented pop.