Rock Pioneer Fats Domino Dies at 89

Rock and roll has lost one of its most iconic architects. Antoine "Fats" Domino passed away in New Orleans on Tuesday at the age of 89, according to CNN. The boogie-woogie piano legend brought some of his home city's signature jazz and R&B flair to the emerging genre in the early 1950s on such genre building block hits as "Ain't That a Shame," "Blueberry Hill" and "I'm Walkin'." He reportedly sold more records than any other '50s-era rockers outside of Elvis and hit Billboard pop and R&B charts from the mid-1950s through the late 1960's, notching more hits than such fellow rock godfathers as Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard.Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. was born on Feb. 26, 1928, in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward into a large musical family and began playing in local bars at age 14 after dropping out of high school, working factory jobs and hauling ice to make enough to support his musical pursuits. The portly piano-pounder received his iconic stage name in 1946 when he started sitting in with local bass player and band leader Billy Diamond. Arranger Dave Bartholomew discovered the budding star in 1949 and helped him release his first single, "The Fat Man," on Imperial Records -- his recording home until 1963. The track is credited with being the first rock record to sell over one million copies and some consider it to be the first rock single