Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1985.
Considered the greatest jazz pianist of all-time.
His skill on the piano was so great that other musicians would defer
from playing it in his presence. When he walked into a club where
Fats Waller was playing, Waller said "I play the piano, but God is in the
house tonight."
Interred at Forest Lawn (Glendale), Glendale, California, USA, in the
Jasmine Terrace.
Had impaired sight from birth, blind in one eye and only partial sight in the other.
Made copious recordings for Norman Granz from the early 1950's until his untimely death.