Fats Waller

American jazz pianist and composer (1904–1943)
Person human Q310476
Fats Waller
New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer: Fisher, Alan, photographer. · Public Domain · Wikimedia
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Fats Waller

Summary

Fats Waller is a human[1]. Born in New York City[2], he… he was born on May 21, 1904[3]. He passed away in Kansas City[4]. He died on December 15, 1943[5]. He worked as a pianist[6], composer[7], singer[8], songwriter[9], and jazz musician[10]. He ranks in the top 0.67% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (1,786 views/month, #6,656 of 1,000,298).[11]

Key Facts

  • Born in New York City[2], Fats Waller…
  • Fats Waller's place of birth was Harlem[12].
  • Fats Waller died in Kansas City[4].
  • Fats Waller was born on May 21, 1904[3].
  • Fats Waller died on December 15, 1943[5].
  • Fats Waller held citizenship in United States[13].
  • English was Fats Waller's native language[14].
  • Fats Waller is identified as part of the African Americans ethnic group[15].
  • Fats Waller's professions included pianist[6].
  • Fats Waller's professions included composer[7].
  • Fats Waller worked as a singer[8].
  • Fats Waller worked as a songwriter[9].
  • Fats Waller worked as a jazz musician[10].
  • Fats Waller's professions included conductor[16].
  • Fats Waller was educated at DeWitt Clinton High School[17].
  • Fats Waller received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award[18].
  • Fats Waller was a member of Fats Waller and his Rhythm[19].
  • Fats Waller is recorded as male[20].
  • Fats Waller's instance of is recorded as human[21].
  • Fats Waller's genre is jazz[22].
  • Fats Waller's Commons category is recorded as Fats Waller[23].
  • Fats Waller's archives at is recorded as Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture[24].
  • The cause of death was pneumonia[25].
  • Fats Waller's family name is recorded as Waller[26].
  • Fats Waller's given name is recorded as Thomas[27].

Body

Origins and Family

Recorded place of birth include New York City[2], a global city[28], in United States[29], founded in 1624[30] and Harlem[12], a neighborhood of Manhattan[31], in United States[32], founded in 1653[33]. Fats Waller was born on May 21, 1904[3]. He is identified as part of the African Americans ethnic group[15]. English was his native language[14].

Education

Fats Waller's education included a stint at DeWitt Clinton High School[17]. He studied under James P. Johnson[34].

Career and Affiliations

Recorded occupations include pianist[6], composer[7], singer[8], songwriter[9], jazz musician[10], and conductor[16].

Recognition

Fats Waller received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award[18].

Death and Burial

Fats Waller died on December 15, 1943[5]. He passed away in Kansas City[4]. The cause of death was pneumonia[25].

Why It Matters

Fats Waller ranks in the top 0.67% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (1,786 views/month, #6,656 of 1,000,298).[11] He has Wikipedia articles in 23 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[35] He is known by 26 alternative names across languages and contexts.[36]

FAQs

Where was Fats Waller born?

Fats Waller's place of birth was New York City[2].

Where did Fats Waller die?

Fats Waller died in Kansas City[4].

What did Fats Waller do for work?

Fats Waller worked as pianist[6], composer[7], singer[8], songwriter[9], and jazz musician[10].

Where did Fats Waller go to school?

Fats Waller was educated at DeWitt Clinton High School[17].

What awards did Fats Waller receive?

Honors received include Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award[18].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [20] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  5. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [21] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  7. [17] ↑ . dewittclintonalumni.com. dewittclintonalumni.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  8. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [6] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  10. [7] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  11. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [10] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  14. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [15] ↑ . Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. wikidata.org.
  18. [23] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [24] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  22. [3] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  23. [5] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  24. [26] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [27] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  26. [34] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [28] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [29] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [30] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [31] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [32] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [33] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [11] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [35] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [36] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Fats Waller. Retrieved October 5, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/fats-waller
MLA “Fats Waller.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 5 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/fats-waller.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_fats-waller_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Fats Waller}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/fats-waller}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-05}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Fats Waller — https://4ort.xyz/entity/fats-waller (retrieved 2026-10-05)

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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 2d ago · Printstream · 2026-10-05 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sitelink count → 44
    Wikipedia languages → ['als', 'ar', 'arz', 'azb', 'bg', 'ca', 'commons', 'cs', 'da', 'de', 'en', 'eo',
    Place of birth → New York City, Harlem
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/57880|batch #57880]]: Import more precise places of birth, date from dewiki"
  2. 5w ago · MsMorale · 2026-09-01 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sinemalar person id → 325905
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ [[Property:P7553]]: 325905, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/270112|batch #270112]]"
  3. 7w ago · Mahirtwofivesix · 2026-08-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Babelnet id → 00033805n
    Arabic ontology lexical concept id → 151061850
    "/* wbeditentity-statements-multiple-properties-update:0||4 */ added/modified IDs mapped to WordNet 3.1"
  4. 8w ago · Yirba · 2026-08-11 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14750 → B284-62DA-5649-B304-4B20
    Nsk (viaf) id → 000115114
    Banq authority id → 0000490964
    National library of lithuania id → LNB:J6q;=BX
    + 8 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/46460|batch #46460]]: HAND ID (6)"
  5. 13w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-05 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Gnd id → 118628763, 1161438572
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/39939|batch #39939]]: add missing GNDs"
  6. 16w ago · MariuszRokin · 2026-06-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    George eastman museum people id → 124858
    Svkkl authority id → 0329369-Waller-Fats-19041943
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ [[Property:P9322]]: 0329369-Waller-Fats-19041943, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/259599|batch #259599]]"
  7. 20w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-20 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Educated at → DeWitt Clinton High School
    Native language → English
    Languages spoken, written or signed → English
    Genre → jazz
    + 32 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/32083|batch #32083]]: import P21 and P106 from GND (25)"
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