Before his solo career, he played with many performers, from Erskine Tate to Bessie Smith.
His nickname came about because he weighed nearly 300 pounds. His weight and extreme drinking habits are believed to been contributors to his death. Waller died of pneumonia aboard an eastbound train in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, following a West Coast engagement.
Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989.
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Jazz pianist and vocalist.
So popular was he that one evening in Chicago in 1926, he was kidnapped by four henchmen and driven to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by infamous gangster Al Capone. He found out he was the "surprise entertainment" for Capone's birthday party!
Son of a Baptist minister.