Raised in South Philadelphia, Ernest Evans grew up singing on street corners
with school friends and mimicking Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino
and other stars of the day. His talent earned him an audition for American
Bandstand host Dick Clark, for whom he recorded a novelty Christmas single,
featuring his impressions of other artists. Given the name Chubby Checker by
Clark's wife, his defining moment came in 1960 when he covered a little known
12-bar blues song by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. The Twist became a huge
US Number 1 hit and one of the great landmarks...