Fatboy Slim

Norman Cook brought serious rock-star energy to the staid figure of the DJ/producer in the late 1990s, contributing to a major boost in dance music’s mainstream profile. Born in Bromley, Kent in 1963, Cook played bass in the breezy guitar-pop band The Housemartins in the mid-’80s before dabbling in electronics across assorted projects. He finally struck gold as Fatboy Slim, becoming globally ubiquitous with 1998’s You’ve Come a Long Way Baby. Beyond the cheeky samples and mantra-like repetition of smash singles “Praise You” and “The Rockafeller Skank”, Cook channelled his own jittery enthusiasm into brash, bludgeoning tracks that went over just as well at large-scale festivals as they did in suburban living rooms. For someone so steeped in DJ culture, it makes sense that Cook has mostly moved beyond the album format, dominating the new millennium with touring, singles and collabs—each offering a compact shot of sonic adrenaline.