One Hit Wonders

John Paul Larkin, (March 13, 1942 — December 3, 1999), better known as Scatman John, was a famous stuttering jazz musician who invented a unique fusion of scat singing and disco, best known for his 1995 hit “Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)“. As he liked to say, this was a process of “turning my biggest problem into my biggest asset.” Born in El Monte, California, he suffered from a severe stutter “since [he] started talking”, which led to an emotionally traumatic childhood. In 1995, at age 52, he became a worldwide star. Sales of his debut single were slow at first, but the song gradually took off to massive proportions, reaching #1 in nearly every country it was released in and selling over 6 million copies worldwide. Even at the peak of his success in 1995, journalists reported that during interviews he “hardly finishes a sentence without repeating the phrase at least six or seven times”. He received 14 golds and 18 platinums for his albums and singles. He was also the recipient of the Annie Glenn Award for his outstanding service to the stuttering community, and was also inducted to the National Stuttering Association’s Hall of Fame. He died of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles, California at the age of 57.