Fatboy Slim (UK)

 

Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, is a dance music pioneer whose career took off in the early ‘90s and shows no signs of slowing down. The British DJ is one of the trailblazers of the big beat genre, and his music played a major role in bringing electronic dance music into the mainstream. A groundbreaking moment in Fatboy Slim's career came in 1998 with the release of his second studio album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby, which featured mega hits such as "Praise You", "Right Here, Right Now", and "The Rockafeller Skank", and has since sold millions of copies.

 

Norman Cook’s journey to becoming Fatboy Slim has been anything but conventional. He began his musical career in 1985, not behind the DJ decks, but as the bassist of an indie band. Three years later, the band broke up, and Cook bought his first controller, synthesizer and samplers. Around the same time, he began producing his first remixes, while “Dub Be Good to Me”, released in 1990 by sound system collective Beats International, of which Cook was a member, reached the top of the charts. Two years later, however, the collective disbanded. Cook then decided to try his hand as a guitarist in an acid jazz band, but, by his own words, quickly realized that he was a really crap guitarist. This was followed by Pizzaman, a house music duo formed with John Reid. Three tracks from their only album, “Pizzamania”, reached the charts. A significant turning point came in 1995, when Fatboy Slim was born.

 

At the suggestion of friends, Fatboy Slim began producing music similar to what he played in his DJ sets – the big beat sound. His debut album, “Better Living Through Chemistry”, was released in 1996, and that same summer he performed under his new alias at the legendary Glastonbury Festival. Since then, Fatboy Slim has performed at the festival every year, delivering anywhere from one to several sets, and last year he celebrated his milestone 100th performance at Glastonbury Festival.

 

The debut album was followed by an international breakthrough with “You've Come a Long Way, Baby” (1998), which spawned some of his biggest hits, including “Praise You” and “Right Here, Right Now”. The music video for the iconic single “Weapon of Choice” (2001), featuring actor Christopher Walken dancing through an empty hotel, is equally legendary. It won several MTV awards and remains one of Fatboy Slim’s best-known music videos.

 

Fatboy Slim played an important role in bringing electronic music from the underground scene to major stadiums and festivals, and he continues to support local electronic music communities. He has performed all over the world, including a free concert on Brighton Beach in 2002, which attracted 250,000 people, and a performance in Rio two years later that drew a crowd of nearly 360,000. After a long wait, the musician is finally coming to Estonia.

 

Fatboy Slim will perform at Kalosseum Hall at Põhjala Tehas (Marati 5) in Tallinn on Saturday, November 21. Tickets will go on sale via Piletilevi on Monday, August 17 at 10 AM. The event is organised by Baltic Live Agency, whose Concert Club members will have access to a presale beginning on Friday, August 14 at 10AM. It is free to join the Concert Club at www.balticlive.ee.