Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (1926-1984) was a monumental figure in blues music, known for her powerful voice, exuberant stage presence, and influence on rock and roll. While her talent was undeniable, her career also highlights the challenges faced by Black female artists in the mid-20th century music industry. Although she never had Big Mama Thornton weight loss surgery.
Early Life and Career
Born in rural Alabama in 1926, Thornton began her musical journey singing in her father’s church choir. After her mother's death in 1940, she started working and soon found an opportunity to sing in a local saloon. This led to joining Sammy Green’s Hot Harlem Review, where she toured the South as a singer and dancer. In 1948, she settled in Houston, Texas, signing with Don Robey as a nightclub singer and collaborating with prominent musicians like Junior Parker and Lightning Hopkins.
"Hound Dog": Success and Controversy
In 1952, Thornton's career reached a turning point when she recorded "Hound Dog," written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The song became a massive hit, topping the Billboard R&B chart for seven weeks and selling over 500,000 copies. Thornton's raw vocals and commanding presence made the song a blues classic. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame includes “Hound Dog” on its list of 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. Library of Congress added Thornton’s version to the National Recording Registry, a list of audio recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
However, the song's success also became a source of controversy. Three years later, Elvis Presley recorded his version of "Hound Dog," which became an even bigger hit, crossing over to pop, country, and R&B charts. While Presley achieved immense fame and financial success with the song, Thornton reportedly received only a single payment of $500 for her original recording.
The differences between the two versions are also noteworthy. Presley’s version included key lyric changes. For example, the line “quit snoopin’ ’round my door” was changed to “cryin’ all the time,” and he added the lines “you never caught a rabbit / and you ain’t no friend of mine.” The changes effectively made the song about a literal dog rather than a metaphor for a lying partner. As Stoller remarked to American Songwriter in 1992, “[Big Mama] was singing to a man. And [Elvis] was singing to a dog.”
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This disparity highlighted the prevalent issue of white artists profiting from the work of Black artists in the music industry. Despite the legal battles over royalties and rights, Thornton never received the recognition or financial compensation she deserved for her contribution to the song.
Later Career and Recognition
Despite the "Hound Dog" controversy, Thornton continued to perform and record music. She wrote and recorded "Ball and Chain" in 1961, which later became a signature song for Janis Joplin. Thornton also appeared at renowned festivals like the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival.
In her later years, Thornton struggled with health issues, including alcoholism, which took a toll on her body. While her "robust frame was gone as well as she lost most of her weight in later years," she continued to perform with passion and energy.
Thornton died in 1984 at the age of 57. Posthumously, she has received greater recognition for her contributions to music. She was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1984, and her version of "Hound Dog" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.
Other Artists Who Faced Weight Issues
Big Mama Thornton was not alone in the music industry in facing challenges related to weight. Here are some other artists who navigated similar issues:
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Fats Domino
Discovered playing at a backyard barbeque by New Orleans band leader Billy Diamond, the 14-year-old Boogie Woogie piano player, Antonine Dominique Jr. would write his very first hit and paint a self-portrait in “The Fat Man.” This single would be considered by historians as the first Rock & Roll single to sell one million records and launch a career that would sell over 65 million in Domino’s lifetime. Diamond would name him “Fats”, just so no one could miss the point (and to recognize his big appetite).
"Mama" Cass Elliott
With a roster of musical works that can outrun many of her contemporaries, Mama Cass (born Ellen Naomi Cohen) became the media star of The Mamas & The Papas. That is, her big voice, big personality and big physical presence naturally took the spotlight. She was the talk of the band, and her fans giggled at her big body jiggle as she danced. By her early 30s, Cass was hosting her own TV variety specials and was part of the Hollywood scene. But eventually, her lifestyle developed into unhealthy habits. She died at 32 in Mayfair, London.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Not everyone in BTO was overweight. But in the early days, the three Bachman brothers all had the same heft, causing them to joke that their type of bodies was built to “keep the groupies away.” Leader Randy Bachman had to eventually face serious health problems due to his weight. Ballooning to 360 lbs, he suffered from constant back and knee pain that made touring almost impossible. When his private doctor graded him “morbidly obese,” the jokes stopped. Having heard from his friend Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) who had experienced success when going under bariatric surgery, Bachman took the risk of having the procedure done around 2006. He eventually lost 155 pounds reaching his boxing weight of 225lbs.
Leslie West
For a man who called his second solo album The Great Fatsby, Leslie West was never shy of his physical presence. When approaching Producer Felix Pappalardi to play bass (and to eventually join Mountain) for his first recording project, Leslie shared in a 1987 interview “I conned Felix into playing bass, and that’s how we did my album. How’d I con him? I said, ‘There’s never been a fat and a skinny guy onstage; we can’t miss.’ I was terrified, but he bought it hook, line and sinker!” In an all too familiar story, his weight and drug use began to take their toll on Leslie in the late 1970s. Soon he was diagnosed with diabetes, and he struggled with fluctuating body weight, eventually facing a bout (and recovery) from bladder cancer. By 2011, due to complications from life-long smoking and his diabetes, his left leg had to be amputated. Subsequently, West carried on making stage appearances in a wheelchair until he succumbed to cardiac arrest in December 2020.
Meatloaf
Marvin Lee Aday’s size preceded his very big talent and voice. Although never fully substantiated, it has been reported that the man who would become Meatloaf intentionally gained 60 pounds to fail his physical for the Vietnam War draft. There are many elements of Meatloaf’s history that people would find difficult to get their head around, given his body type. The artist behind the blockbuster 1976 album Bat Out Of Hell was a cast member at the Broadway Theater’s production of Hair in the early 70s (yes, with on-stage nudity!). He was rebuffed by the highly committed vegetarian K.D. Lang, who would not agree to be introduced to him because his name included MEAT. What K.D. and many others didn’t know was that he never considered himself an out-of-control- overweight person. The man called “Meat” was a vegetarian for 11 years, dropping from 265 lbs to his “standard weight” of 195 lbs. He went back to eating meat after that period because he felt “I didn’t need [vegetarianism] anymore.”
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