Chubby Checker

No, Chubby Checker didn't write "The Twist." Nor was he the first person to record the tune -- both honors are held by Hank Ballard, who had a minor hit with the song in 1959. But Checker did turn the song into an international dance phenomenon. As he likes to describe the dance -- "It's like putting out a cigarette with both feet, and wiping your bottom with a towel, to the beat of the music." Checker's version of the infectious song hit No.

Tom Jones and Chubby Checker have little in common beyond their status as pop music legends, road warriors (both play more than 200 shows a year) and, along with Nancy Sinatra, the hottest old-school acts performing in Southern California on New Year's Eve.

With nonchalant matter-of-factness, Chubby Checker says: "It's probably the most important song of the 20th century." He is referring, of course, to "The Twist," the beloved rock 'n' roll song he took to the top of the singles charts in 1960 and again in early 1962--the only rock song ever to reenter the charts and return to No. 1. "The Twist" ignited a nationwide dance craze.