Editing Chubby Checker (section)

===1950s–1960s===
In December 1958, Checker privately recorded a novelty single for Clark in which the singer portrayed a school teacher with an unruly classroom of musical performers. The premise allowed Checker to imitate such acts as [[Fats Domino]], [[The Coasters]], [[Elvis Presley]], [[Cozy Cole]], and [[The Chipmunks]], each singing "[[Mary Had a Little Lamb]]". Clark sent the song out as his Christmas greeting, and it received such good response that Cameo-Parkway signed Checker to a recording contract.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=Jim|url=http://archive.org/details/twiststoryofsong0000daws|title=The twist : the story of the song that changed the world|date=1995|publisher=[[Faber and Faber]]|location=Boston, Massachusetts|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-571-19852-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/twiststoryofsong0000daws/page/30/mode/2up 30-31]}}</ref> Titled "[[The Class (song)|The Class]]", the single became Checker's first release, charting at No. 38 in the spring of 1959.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine|title=Chubby Checker|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/chubby-checker/|access-date=January 16, 2022|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

Checker introduced his version of "The Twist" at the age of 18 in July 1960 in [[Wildwood, New Jersey]] at the Rainbow Club. "The Twist" went on to top the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] not just once in 1960, but yet again in a separate chart run in late 1961. The first success was attributed to teens, and the unprecedented second number-one Billboard ranking was driven by older audiences following a spirited live performance<ref>{{cite AV media|date=October 22, 1961|title=Chubby Checker "The Twist & Let's Twist Again" on The Ed Sullivan Show|language=English |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDGprGUreOc|publisher=The Ed Sullivan Show via YouTube|access-date=March 13, 2022}}</ref> of the song by Checker on [[The Ed Sullivan Show]], seen by over 10 million viewers.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dawson|first=Jim|date=2012|title="The Twist"—Chubby Checker (1960)|url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/TheTwist.pdf|url-status=live|website=[[Library of Congress]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017102507/https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/TheTwist.pdf|archive-date=October 17, 2020 }}</ref> ([[Bing Crosby]]'s "[[White Christmas (song)|White Christmas]]" had also achieved number one twice on ''Billboard''{{'}}s earlier chart.)

"[[The Twist (song)|The Twist]]" had previously peaked at No. 16 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' rhythm and blues chart, in the 1959 version recorded by its author, [[Hank Ballard]], whose band The Midnighters first performed the dance on stage. Checker's "Twist", however, was a nationwide smash, aided by his many appearances on Dick Clark's ''[[American Bandstand]]'', the top 10 ''American Bandstand'' ranking of the song, and the teenagers on the show who enjoyed dancing the Twist. The song was so ubiquitous that Checker felt that his critics thought he could only succeed as a dance demonstrator. Checker later lamented: ""The Twist" really ruined my life. I was on my way to becoming a big nightclub performer, and "The Twist" just wiped it out&nbsp;... It got so out of proportion. No one ever believes I have talent."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Twist: The Story of the Song and Dance That Changed the World|last=Dawson|first=Jim|publisher=[[Faber & Faber]]|year=1995|isbn=9780571198528|location=Boston, Massachusetts|pages=[https://archive.org/details/twiststoryofsong0000daws/page/26 26]|url=https://archive.org/details/twiststoryofsong0000daws/page/26}}</ref> By 1965 alone, "The Twist" had sold over 15 million copies, and was awarded multiple [[music recording sales certification|gold discs]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1978|title=The Book of Golden Discs|edition=2nd|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins Ltd|location=London, England|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/122 122–3]|isbn=0-214-20512-6|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/122}}</ref>

Despite Checker's initial disapproval, he found follow-up success with a succession of up-tempo dance tracks, including "The Hucklebuck" (#14), "[[The Fly (Chubby Checker song)|The Fly]]" (#7), "Dance the Mess Around" (#24), and "[[Pony Time]]", which became his second No. 1 single.<ref name=":0" /> Checker's follow-up "twist" single, "[[Let's Twist Again]]", won the 1962 [[Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Recording]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Unterberger|first=Andrew|date=January 26, 2018|title=60 Grammys, 60 Moments: The Greatest Moment From Every Grammys Ceremony So Far|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/greatest-grammy-moments-60-years-8095834/|url-status=live|access-date=January 16, 2022|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116055342/https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/greatest-grammy-moments-60-years-8095834/|archive-date=January 16, 2022}}</ref> A 1962 duet with [[Dee Dee Sharp]], "Slow Twistin'", reached No. 3 on the national charts. Other substantial hits included "[[Dancin' Party]]", "[[Popeye the Hitchhiker]]", "[[Twenty Miles]]", "[[Birdland (Chubby Checker song)|Birdland]]", "[[Loddy Lo]]", and a Christmas duet with [[Bobby Rydell]], "[[Jingle Bell Rock]]". "[[Limbo Rock]]" reached No. 2 on 22–29 December 1962, becoming Checker's last top ten hit. Checker continued to have top 40 singles until 1965, his last being "[[Let's Do the Freddie]]" (#40), a variation on [[Freddie and the Dreamers]]' dance tune "Do the Freddie", with new melody and lyrics. Changes in public tastes, owing mostly to the [[British Invasion]] and [[Music history of the United States in the 1960s#Rock|counterculture era]], ended his hit-making career. He spent much of the rest of the 1960s touring and recording in Europe.