Getty Images
DJ Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, is celebrating 40 years in music
Fatboy Slim’s famous gig on Brighton beach cemented his love for the city he calls home, the DJ has said.
The open-air show in 2002, known as Big Beach Boutique II, was attended by an estimated 250,000 fans – more than four times the expected capacity.
The Brighton-based DJ, whose real name is Norman Cook, said: “It should have been the proudest moment of my career and in a way, it was, but it was fraught with difficulties.”
Cook spoke to the BBC following the release of his first book, It Ain’t Over ’til the Fatboy Sings, which documents his 40-year career.
Getty Images
Big Beach Boutique II in 2002 was attended by an estimated 250,000 fans
The 62-year-old said the open-air concert was considered more dangerous to cancel the event and risk a riot on the beach.
“If nothing else, Big Beach Boutique cemented my relationship with the city I love,” he said.
“Everybody remembers where they were that day and what they were doing. I’m very proud of it in retrospect.”
Among Cook’s earliest musical experiences was studying violin at Reigate Grammar School in Surrey, alongside future Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Cook would later become the bassist in the band The Housemartins, form the dance group Beats International and release records under the names Pizzaman and Mighty Dub Katz.
Getty Images
Fatboy Slim has performed at the Amex Stadium, the home of Brighton & Hove Albion
“I never signed up to the wanting to be famous thing,” the DJ said, adding he was not comfortable with the attention he received after a Top of the Pops appearance with The Housemartins.
“In dance music, it was quite easy to be faceless,” he added.
“One day, I realised that more people wanted to hear me DJ than play a guitar in a band. That’s when Fatboy Slim engulfed my life.”
Cook, whose hit songs included Right Here, Right Now and Praise You, has received two Brit Awards and an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.