Fatboy Slim

Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim (among others), is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s.

In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist for the Hull-based indie rock band the Housemartins, who achieved a UK number-one single with their a cappella cover of "Caravan of Love".

After the Housemartins split up, Cook formed the electronic band Beats International in Brighton, who produced the number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me".

He then played in Freak Power, Pizzaman, and the Mighty Dub Katz with moderate success.

In 1985, Heaton formed a guitar band called the Housemartins.

Their bassist left on the eve of their first national tour, so Cook agreed to move to Hull to join them.

The band soon had a hit single, "Happy Hour", and their two albums, London 0 Hull 4 and The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death, peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart.

They also reached number one just before Christmas 1986 with a version of "Caravan of Love", originally a hit the year before for Isley-Jasper-Isley.

By 1988 they split up.

Heaton and the band's drummer Dave Hemingway went on to form The Beautiful South, while Cook moved back to Brighton to pursue his interest in the style of music he preferred.

He started working with young studio engineer Simon Thornton, with whom he continues to make records.

Cook achieved his first solo hit in 1989, "Blame It on the Bassline", featuring future Beats International member MC Wildski.

Credited to "Norman Cook feat. MC Wildski", the song followed the basic template of what would become Beats International's style.

It was a modest hit on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 29.

Cook formed Beats International, a loose confederation of studio musicians including vocalists Lindy Layton and Lester Noel, rappers D.J. Baptiste and MC Wildski, and keyboardist Andy Boucher.

Their first album, Let Them Eat Bingo, included the number one single "Dub Be Good to Me", which caused a legal dispute over allegations of copyright infringement through the liberal use of unauthorised samples: the bassline was lifted note for note from The Clash's "The Guns of Brixton" and the lyrics borrowed heavily from The S.O.S. Band's "Just Be Good to Me".

Cook lost the case and was ordered to pay back twice the royalties made on the record, bankrupting him.

The 1991 follow-up album Excursion on the Version, an exploration of dub and reggae music, failed to duplicate its predecessor's success as it did not chart.

Cook then formed Freak Power with horn player Ashley Slater and singer Jesse Graham.

They released their debut album Drive-Thru Booty in 1994, which contained the single "Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out".

Levi's used the song in a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign.

The 1995 Pizzamania album spawned three UK Top 40 hits: "Trippin' on Sunshine", "Sex on the Streets", and "Happiness".

In 1996, Cook adopted the name Fatboy Slim and released Better Living Through Chemistry to critical acclaim.

Follow-up albums You've Come a Long Way, Baby, Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, and Palookaville, as well as singles such as "The Rockafeller Skank", "Praise You", "Right Here, Right Now", "Weapon of Choice", and "Wonderful Night", achieved commercial and critical success.

In 1996, Cook rejoined Freak Power for their second album, More of Everything for Everybody.

Cook enlisted help from producer friends Tim Jeffery and JC Reid to create a house music album as Pizzaman.

All of Cook's records since have involved both of them to varying degrees (Thornton is credited in 2004 as "Executive Producer", for example).

In 2008, Cook formed the Brighton Port Authority, a collaborative effort with a number of other established artists including David Byrne.

He has been responsible for successful remixes for Cornershop, the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Groove Armada, and Wildchild.

It was reported in 2008 that Cook held the Guinness World Record for most top-40 hits under different names.

As a solo act, he has won nine MTV Video Music Awards and two Brit Awards.

Cook was born in Bromley, Kent.

He was raised in Reigate, Surrey, and educated at Reigate Grammar School, where he took violin lessons alongside future Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.

He grew up with a love of music.

When he was 14, his brother brought home the first album from the punk band The Damned, which turned him onto that genre; he started attending gigs at the Greyhound pub in Park Lane, Croydon and playing in punk bands.

He played drums in Disque Attack, a British new wave-influenced rock band.

When frontman Charlie Alcock was told by his parents that he had to give up the band to concentrate on his O levels, Cook took over as lead vocalist.

At The Railway Tavern in Reigate, Cook met Paul Heaton, with whom he formed the Stomping Pondfrogs.

At 18, Cook went to Brighton Polytechnic to read a B.A. in English, politics, and sociology, where he achieved a 2:1 in British Studies.

He had begun DJing some years before, but it was at this time that he began to develop his skills in the thriving Brighton club scene, regularly appearing at the Brighton Belle and student favourite The Basement, where (then known as DJ Quentox) he began laying the base for Brighton's hip-hop scene.