Fatboy Slim is a real legend in the world of DJing. He devoted more than 40 years to music, was repeatedly recognized as the best and occupied a leading position in the charts.
Childhood, youth, passion for music Fatboy Slim
Real name - Norman Quentin Cook, born July 31, 1963 on the outskirts of London. He attended Reigate High School where he took violin lessons. The older brother instilled a love for music when, at the age of 14, he brought Norman a cassette of the punk rock band The Damned.
He started going to concerts at the Greyhound Pub. And then he himself played drums in the group Disque Attack. After the departure of the vocalist, he took his place. Later he meets Paul Heaton, with whom they will create the Stomping Pondfrogs band.
At 18, he entered Brighton Polytechnic Institute, where he studied English, sociology and politics. Before that, Norman had already tried himself as a DJ. It was at the time of the university that he began to actively develop in this direction. In the student club "The Basement" he performed under the pseudonym DJ Quentox. It was there that the Brighton hip-hop scene was born.
First steps to fame Fatboy Slim
Paul Heaton founds Housemartins in 1983, and two years later, on the eve of the tour, the bassist leaves them. Norman agrees to replace him. Success was not long in coming. The track "Happy Hour" becomes a hit, and the albums "London 0 Hull 4" and "The People Who Grinned Themself to Death" get into the top 10 of the best UK albums.
After 5 years, Housemartins breaks up. Heaton creates the group The Beautiful South, and Cook begins a solo career. Already in 1989 he released the track "Blame It on the Bassline", which went unnoticed and did not rise above the 29th line in the top.
At the same time, the DJ founded Beats International. This is a loose confederation of musicians, including rappers MC Wildski, DJ Baptiste, soloists Lester Noel, Lindy Leighton and keyboardist Andy Boucher.
Their album "Let Them Eat Bingo" caused a copyright scandal. The lawsuit was filed by the collectives The Clash and The SOS Band. Cook lost the case and was forced to pay the copyright holders an amount twice the amount received. This led to bankruptcy, and subsequent attempts to make money were unsuccessful: the album "Excursion on the Version" did not gain much popularity.
Again and again
Failures did not stop Norman, so already in 1993 he created another group - Freak Power. Their single "Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out" was used for an advertising campaign for American clothing brand Levi's. In 1995, the collection "Pizzamania" was released. Three singles from there soar to the top of the charts, and the song "Happiness" is used to advertise juices.
Several projects were not enough for Norman. Therefore, together with a former flatmate, Gareth Hansom, known as GMoney, they create the duet The Mighty Dub Katz. Later, the guys open their own nightclub "Boutique". Their most famous song was "Magic Carpet Ride".
90s and the peak of popularity
The famous pseudonym appeared in 1996. Fatboy Slim is translated as “slender fat man”, the DJ explained his choice as follows:
"This means nothing. I've lied so much in all these years that it's hard for me to remember the truth. This is just an oxymoron - a word that cannot exist. It suits me - it sounds stupid and ironic. ”
In 2008, it was reported that the DJ was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the most hits released under various pseudonyms. At various times he called himself:
- Cheeky boy
- Hot Since 63
- Arthur Chubb
- sensateria
The debut album "Fatboy Slim" was not deprived of attention and entered the top of the charts, in 1998 the second album was released - "Praise You Come A Long Way, Baby". In the same year, together with director Spike Jonze, the video "Praise You" was filmed, which received 3 awards from MTV, including for a breakthrough video.
After that, Cook's career went like clockwork: constant tops in the charts, popular videos, many awards. It is worth noting that he was one of the pioneers in the big beat genre - one of the varieties of electronic music. Big beat features a powerful beat, psychedelic and inserts from hard rock, jazz and pop music of the 60s. Also the founders of the genre were Propellerheads, The Prodigy, The Crystal Method, The Chemical Brothers and others.
Fatboy Slim personal life
In 1999, Norman married TV presenter Zoe Ball, has a 20-year-old son, Woody, and an 11-year-old daughter, Nellie, who followed in her father's footsteps. In 2016, the couple separated. On March 4, 2021, it will be 12 years since Cook overcame alcoholism and drug addiction. It was on this day in 2009 that he entered a rehabilitation clinic, where he stayed for 3 weeks and left because he wanted to perform.
Now
Norman is still faithful to music and often appears at festivals such as "Global Gathering", "Good Vibrations" and others. He also performs with DJ sets at various events. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he focused more on his daughter, who at the age of 10 performed at the Camp Bestival festival, where she raised money for a cancer center.
Fatboy Slim has released many hits throughout his career and played hundreds of DJ sets, and at 57 he is full of energy, so he does not even think about quitting what he loves.
