In 1941 Ernest Evans was born in Spring Gully, S.C. In 1960, he performed at the Rainbow Club in Wildwood, N.J., where he sang a cover of a Hank Ballard song. By then he was Chubby Checker and that song was ”The Twist.” While it is “The Twist” that he is best remembered for, Checker had a string of other hit songs, usually associated with some type of dance, including “Pony Time,” “The Fly,” “Limbo Rock,” and “Let’s Twist Again.”
Whatever happened to Chubby Checker? He’s 83, alive and well, still making music and still performing. In fact, you can go to chubbychecker.com and book a show that the site promises will bring “an energetic, articulate entertainer. His concerts are filled with people of all generations. He is current…he is amazing and he explodes on stage getting everyone involved.”
His stage name came from his high school employer, with some help from Dick Clark’s wife Barbara.
While attending high school in South Philadelphia where he was raised, “Ernest took on after-school jobs at the Produce Market and at Fresh Farm Poultry on 9th Street. His boss at the Produce Market gave him the nickname ‘Chubby’ and his boss at Fresh Farm Poultry gave him much more – an introduction to Dick Clark.” (Ann McGill, WCSC Live 5 News, Dec. 16, 2022)
Barbara Clark made the connection between the young singer and Fats Domino and that led to his stage name. As Checker tells it “Mrs. Clark said, ‘His name is Chubby, like Fats? Well, then, his last name should be Checker, like Domino.’” (Gabrielle Moss, Remind Magazine, Oct. 3, 2024)
One thing that has been as long-lasting as Checker’s music career is his marriage. In 1963 he married Dutch model Catharine Lodders. They’re still together and have had three children.
“The couple, who live in Paoli, have been together for nearly six decades and are the proud grandparents of seven.
“The singer, made famous by his reimagining of Hank Ballard’s ‘The Twist,’ met his wife while performing in the Philippines in January 1962. The lady in her polka dot bathing suit that took his breath away was a literal beauty queen: the Netherlands native held the crown of Miss World in 1962.
“They fell in love and Checker proposed the following year. They were married in 1964, three years before the ban on interracial marriages was finally lifted in the United States.
“They often experienced racial discrimination and criticism for being in a relationship. They had trouble buying a home in Philadelphia, but persevered and finally purchased a home in Paoli in 1965, where they still live.” (Leah Mikulich, VISTA Today, Sept. 29, 2023)
In 2016, Checker and his wife drove to Sarasota to help celebrate the 100th birthday of Rev. George Garver, the man who married them.
“In 1964, Garver officiated at the Evanses’ wedding at the church where Garver served in New Jersey. Interracial marriage was legal in the state and within the Lutheran Church, but Garver became the target of racist protests and threats and eventually resigned from the pastorate of that church. Garver retired to Florida in 1981 after a career as a pastor who also developed coaching programs for clergy.” (Sarasota Herald Tribune, Jan. 16, 2016)
Checker has never been one to underestimate his influence. He had frequently expressed his frustration over not being elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He once (2004) protested outside the Waldorf Astoria in New York where the Hall of Fame induction ceremony was taking place. Another time he made his view known with a full-page ad in Billboard magazine.
“In a curious full-page ad in Billboard Magazine addressed to the music industry, the media, the general public and nominators for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Nobel Prize, Checker is making an elaborate case for himself as a cultural innovator of the highest order.
“‘Before Alexander Graham Bell, no telephone’ begins one part of the ad, which ran in the music industry weekly’s July 28 issue. ‘Before Thomas Edison, no electric light. Before Walt Disney, no animated cartoons. Before Chubby Checker, no ‘Dancing Apart to the Beat.’
“The seven-paragraph open letter ends with this proclamation: ‘Chubby Checker is King of the way we dance worldwide since 1959.’” (Tom Moon, Knight Ridder Newspapers, Oct. 2, 2001)
It took awhile, but tonight (April 27, 2025) it was announced that Checker has been selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. No word yet from the Nobel Prize committee.
Checker’s contributions have hardly gone unnoticed. He was inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2014. The following year, a mural was unveiled in Wildwood as part of the beach town’s Icon Wall Mural series.
“Checker’s 40’ x 12’ mural — which features six images of him doing ‘The Twist,’ plus the words, ‘Let’s Twist Again Like We Did Last Summer’ — is on the south-facing side of Romeo’s Famous Pizzeria, at 3707 Pacific Ave., a block from the site where the Rainbow Club, at which he sang ‘The Twist,’ in 1960, once existed. The artist was Susan Daly, who also created the (Bill) Haley mural.” (Jay Lustig, NJArts, Sept. 9, 2015)
Back in his birth home of Spring Gulley, S.C., an honorary marker was placed in 2022 on Highway 521. And he was the subject of another mural painted in 2022 in Leicester, N.Y., on the wall of the Leicester Casino, where Checker performed in 1973.
What was not a tribute to Chubby Checker was an app by that name developed by Hewlett-Packard.
“The Chubby Checker app allowed users to input the shoe size of a man (UK, US and European shoe sizes were accepted) to return a measurement of his penis.
“The app was withdrawn from the WebOS App Catalog in 2012 after a cease and desist order from Checker’s lawyers.” (Hannah Jane Parkinson, The Guardian, July 25, 2014)
That same story in the Guardian announced settlement of Checker’s suit.
“Rock’n’roll star Chubby Checker… has settled the 2013 lawsuit he brought against Hewlett-Packard over a “penis-measuring” app.
“Checker, real name Ernest Evans, had been seeking half a billion dollars from Hewlett-Packard for ‘irreparable damage and harm’ caused by the Chubby Checker, an app for Hewlett-Packard’s Palm OS platform.
“The settlement agreement has not been disclosed, and neither side has accepted liability, but Hewlett-Packard has apparently agreed not to use the singer’s stage name, related trademarks, or likeness on their products.
“This lawsuit is about preserving the integrity and legacy of a man who has spent years working hard at his musical craft and has earned the position of one of the greatest musical entertainers of all time,’ explained Checker’s coincidentally named lawyer, Willie Gary, at the time.”
One thing that Checker has always taken pride in is his ability to perform, even at an advanced age. This review, written by Geoff Herbert, appeared on Syracuse.com after a 2013 show at the New York State Fair.
“For an hour Tuesday afternoon at the 2013 New York State Fair, Chubby Checker proved he can still twist at 71 years young. Just in case there was any doubt.
“Checker jumped on the Chevy Court stage at 2 p.m. and immediately started the party with ‘Good, Good Lovin.’ He swiveled his legs, shimmied his hips and sang with a voice only partly diminished by time.”
Two years later he was interviewed by The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) before a show in Morristown.
“‘I’m a rock performer,’ he says. ‘If you’re coming to see an old man beaten up, stay home — you’re not going to see that. I am an old man, but I sure kick some good butt, boy. You’re looking at a 1960 Corvette with a 1967 engine, a 427, and 450 horsepower. We kick butt all day long. I’m coming to Morristown, I’m bringing the fire, we’re going to burn the theater down and go home…Anybody who misses my performance, I feel sorry for them.’”
And just two years ago he sent a similar message to Bruce Chadwick of New Jersey Stage (Oct. 6, 2023):
“I asked him, silly me, if there was anything he could not do at 82 that he could do earlier in his career.
“‘I sing, I dance, I bop out into the audience, I twist with a whole lot of people in the theater I am at. That answer to your question is a big ‘no,’ he said.
“One thing Checker definitely does NOT do is talk about retiring. NEVER.
“‘Hey, I started working out when I was 29, anticipating the day would come – and it is here – when I’d be in my 80s and still want to perform. I kept in shape all these years with that in mind,’ he said.”
(Note on sources: Newspaper articles that do not include links were accessed on newspapers.com)
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Whatever Happened To?
off the leash 
If I could climb into a Time Machine like Rod Taylor in the movie classic, one stop I’d make is the Rainbow Club in Wildwood, NJ, for shows by Wilson Puckett, The Platters and The Drifters.
Terrific post, Ken. The research is first-rate and you put it all together well. Amazing that Chubby Checker is still performing.
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Have to confess I never took this guy seriously. But the fact that he’s stayed in Paoli married to the same woman earns him some respect in my book.
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