Chubby Checker Is Still Alive & Twisting Away

Gabrielle Moss October 3, 2024

Chubby Checker now and then — Michael Levin/Corbis via Getty Images;

“The Twist” singer Chubby Checker turns 83 on Oct. 3 — and not only is the man who taught a generation to dance alive and well; he’s actually also still touring!

Born Ernest Evans in Spring Gully, South Carolina, in 1941, Checker was raised in south Philadelphia, where he displayed an early talent for music and impressions. When he was a student at South Philadelphia High (alongside fellow future star Fabian), Checker got his big break — after working at his after-school job at fresh farm poultry shop, the owner helped him get in touch with Dick Clark, as American Bandstand was filmed in Philadelphia at the time.

AMERICAN BANDSTAND, from left: Dick Clark, Chubby Checker, circa 1961.

Curt Gunther/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection

Clark loved Checker — and his wife helped him develop his stage name (“Chubby” was a childhood nickname; Mrs. Clark said, “His name is Chubby, like Fats? Well, then, his last name should be Checker, like Domino,” according to Checker). After recording a song called “The Class” for the Clarks to use as a Christmas greeting, Checker was signed to a recording contract.

Checker’s signature tune, “The Twist,” was written and originally performed by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, who took the song to No. 28 on the Billboard charts in 1960. But when Ballard was unable to appear on American Bandstand, Clark suggested that Checker sing it in his place.

Checker’s version, however, was a smash hit — it hit No. 1 in 1960, and again in 1962, making it one of only a handful of songs to hit No. 1 twice in two different, nonconsecutive years. The second No. 1 is attributed to a performance Checker made on The Ed Sullivan Show.

In 1961, Checker released the sequel song “Let’s Twist Again,” which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard charts and nabbed Checker a Grammy for Best Rock & Roll Recording. His 1962 version of “Limbo Rock” reached No. 2 on the charts, and his 1965 cover of “Do the Freddie” was his final Top 40 hit, reaching No. 40.

In 1969, Checker hit No. 82 with a dance over of the Beatles’ “Back in the U.S.S.R.” In 1971, in an attempt to keep up with changing trends, he released a psychedelic-influenced album called Chequered! The album was unfortunately not a hit.

AMERICAN BANDSTAND, from left: Dick Clark, Chubby Checker. Chubby Checker is giving Dick Clark a dance lesson, circa 1961

Everett Collection

A legal issue with Checker’s original recording company, Cameo-Parkway Records, kept the original recording of “The Twist” unavailable from the early 1970s; Checker released a re-recording that turned up on most of his compilation albums for the next decade.

In 1988, Checker was back on the charts alongside hip-hop group the Fat Boys; their cover of “The Twist,” entitled “The Twist (Yo Twist)” hit No. 2 in the U.K. The following year, he portrayed himself on the show Quantum Leap.

Checker also appeared on Murphy Brown in 1998 and Ally McBeal in 2001, playing himself both times. In 2002, he protested his exclusion from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

In 2008, Checker had a No. 1 song on the dance charts with “Knock Down the Walls.” In the same year, “The Twist” was named the No. 1 song of Billboard’s first 50 years by the magazine.

In 1963, Checker met Dutch model Catharina Lodders; they married in 1964 and had three children together. They remain married and still live in the Pennsylvania home they purchased together in the ’60s. Checker also has other children, including Duke basketball and WNBA star Mistie Bass.

Checker tours to this day — in fact, he has a gig in Wheeling, West Virginia, on Oct. 5, and will appear in Niagara Falls, Canada, on March 5 & 6, 2025. And his biggest song continues to have a life of its own; in 2023, it was part of a New York City campaign to encourage car drivers and passengers to look for any passing bicyclists before opening their door … by “twisting” their heads.