Paoli’s Chubby Checker, best known for his monster hit from 1960, “The Twist”, has received his first nomination for induction into Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, writes Dan DeLuca for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Checker, born Ernest Evans, has been his own strongest champion in the quest to join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 2001, he made a bold statement by taking out a full-page ad in Billboard that outlined why he deserves a spot among the legends.
“I want my flowers when I’m alive,” he wrote. “I can’t smell them when I’m dead.”
The following year, he staged a protest outside the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, claiming he had been snubbed by not being included.
The arguments against him have always centered around his case being based on one song that was not written or first recorded by him, but instead was a track originally released by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters in 1958. However, Checker enjoyed several other major hits, including “Pony Time,” “The Fly,” “Twistin’ U.S.A.,” and “Let’s Twist Again.”
Read more about Paoli’s Chubby Checker being nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on VISTA Today in February 2025.
