Born in 1963 and coming of age with punk rock at 14, Norman Cook started as a bass player in the Housemartins before gravitating toward the studio and production. Freed by the arrival of affordable drum machines and samplers, he built dance music from old breakbeats, breaking through as Beats International with "Dub Be Good to Me" and running a string of aliases — Pizzaman, Mighty Dub Kats and Freak Power — across labels like Loaded and Island.
As Fatboy Slim — a project A&R'd into existence by Damian Harris at Skint Records — Cook defined Big Beat: Beatles hooks, punk spirit, hip-hop breaks and acid-house energy in one record. The sound was named after his Brighton club, the Big Beat Boutique.
Hits "The Rockefeller Skank" and "Praise You" broke America, and his in-the-round shows reinvented the DJ set. He founded Southern Fried Records, releasing friends like Krafty Kuts, and still tours relentlessly.