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Chubby Checker is the stage name of '''Ernest Evans''' ( October 3 , 1941 —), an American singer best known for popularizing the dance The Twist with his 1960 song " The Twist ". He was born in Spring Gulley , South Carolina and grew up in South Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , and attended South Philadelphia High School with Frankie Avalon and Fabian . Evans chose the name "Chubby Checker" as a take-off on then-popular singer Fats Domino . In 1964 , he married Catharina Lodders , who had been Miss World in 1962 . FAME " The Twist " (which had previously been a minor Rhythm And Blues hit for its author, Hank Ballard ) was so popular that his public often did not allow him to sing any other style of music. He did popularize many dance songs. Checker later lamented: :...in a way, "The Twist" really ruined my life. I was on my way to becoming a big nightclub performer, and "The Twist" just wiped it out. It got so out of proportion. No one ever believes I have talent. He is the only recording artist to have five albums in the Top 12 all at once. He is the only artist to have a song reach #1 twice—" The Twist ". He is hailed by many to have changed the way we dance to the beat of music since 1959 . Checker had a number of hits with dance-themed records into the mid-1960s, but changes in public taste ended his hitmaking career in 1965 . He spent much of the rest of the 1960s touring and recording in Europe . The 1970s saw him become a staple on the Oldies circuit and having a minor comeback as a Disco artist. LATER YEARS His material during his 1960s heyday was recorded for Cameo-Parkway Records and became unavailable after the early 1970s. His later sixties material included a dancefloor classic cover version of The Beatles Back In The U.S.S.R , released on Buddah records. None of it was available on Compact Disc until 2005 . (Almost all CD compilations of Checker's hits consist of re-recordings.) Despite his negative view towards his biggest hit single, in the 1980s it granted him a new lease of fame when he recorded a new version of "The Twist" with Rap trio The Fat Boys . Ironically, the lyrics to this new version implied he was pleased of his association with it. Cashing in once again on the song that made him a star, Checker sang it in a commercial for Oreo Cookie s in the early- 1990s . He then opened his own Restaurant , which he continues to run, as well as singing on a regular basis. HIT SONGS
the twist was re-released in 1961 which became a bigger hit...and sold more then the original. TRIVIA
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