A biography for Chubby Checkerhasn’t been written yet.
“Chubby Checker changed the dance floor.”
“My outlet is my music, and it's been this way since I was 4 years old.”
“Being on 'Bandstand' was like getting a Nobel Prize. From 3 o'clock in the afternoon until 5:30, nobody was on the street. They were watching 'Bandstand.'”
“Homey don't quit. What else are you gonna do? It's like those guys in the cartoon they get up in the morning, check the clock and fight all day and after it's over they check the clock and go home. That's how it goes.”
“When I'm onstage they know I'm honest, and I try to be as humble as I can.”
“Fame was a mixed blessing for me because I thought I could be as big as I wanted to be, and then I realized that I couldn't because of the racist element in the record business.”
“I want my flowers while I'm alive.”
“Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears all the rappers, they're doing my dances and they're making billions doing my dances. When they do that little thing they do with their hands that's The Fly and The Pony.”
“Dancing, apart to music with a beat, is my legacy.”
“Ever see a little kid walking around talking to himself? I'm the same way.”
“Before I got in this business I was in the chicken business.”
“Alexander Graham Bell brought us the telephone. He owns the telephones in the buildings. Thomas Edison owns the lightbulb. Whether they took it and did things to improve it, he's the guy. Now on the dance floor, that belongs to Chubby Checker.”
“I compare the Twist to the electric light, The Twist is me, and I'm it. I'm the electric light.”
“I'm in a crazy business. The music industry is really tough, and I fight for my life. I just want to make everybody happy.”
“What turns me on is to walk into a sold-out venue. The audiences are so much the same as they were in the '60s. It's just an amazing thing. I can't explain it, but I hope it never stops.”
“When you throw your hands up in the air like you just don't care, you're doing 'The Fly' by Chubby Checker!”
“I was born in South Carolina. On my dad's farm, I didn't have much. I'm just a poor kid who worked in a produce market.”
“You have to be very strong to play my music. The drummer has to be in great shape. Same with the guitarist. You have to be a monster to play with Chubby!”
“I want people to look at a checkerboard and think of me!”
“I don't get the airplay that one in my position deserves. 'Twist and Shout' gets more airplay than 'The Twist,' and that's not right.”