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D.J. Fontana

D.J. FONTANA

YEAR

2009

INDUCTED BY

Max Weinberg (E Street Band)

CATEGORY

Musical Excellence

Drummer D.J. Fontana was a rockabilly icon at a time when country music was cutting drums completely.

For fourteen years he was the pulse at the center of Elvis Presley’s music. Together they recorded hundreds of songs and blew audiences away with rollicking, fun-loving, informal jams.

D.J. Fontana

D.J. Fontana

HALL OF FAME
ESSAY

By Robert Burke Warren

For a rocket to break free from the grip of Earth’s gravitational pull, it needs raw, crude thrust, a blast of primal power; the higher it ascends, the less potent combustion is needed.

Musically speaking, bassist Bill Black and drummer D.J. Fontana were just such a necessary component for the rise of Elvis Presley. In addition to their perfect qualifications as musicians, the personalities of the affable “never-met-a-stranger” showman Black and the laid-back yet authoritatively professional Fontana would contribute beyond measure to the evolution of Presley’s persona from gawky, unfocused music geek to Hillbilly Cat to King of Rock & Roll.

Read More
Class of 2009
They were the king's men.
Max Weinberg
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