# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/rufus-thomas
# Generated: 2026-08-13T02:26:38.628Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/rufus-thomas"
name: "Rufus Thomas"
slug: "rufus-thomas"
description: "Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Records and Sun Records in the 1950s, before becoming established in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records. His dance records, including \"Walking the Dog\" (1963), \"Do the Funky Chicken\" (1969), and \"(Do the) Push and Pull\" (1970), were some of his most successful songs. According to the Mississippi Blues Commission, \"Rufus Thomas embodied the spirit of Memphis music perhaps more than any other artist, and from the early 1940s until his death . . . occupied many important roles in the local scene.\""
tagline: "American singer (1917–2001)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/2011-01-08_Downtown_Memphis_TN_39.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1917-03-26"
deathDate: "2001-12-15"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           51.55
  momentum:             0
  historical:           18.08125733333334
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0859476/"
    handle:    "nm0859476"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/47513"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%81%D8%B3_%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3"
    title: "روفس توماس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%81%D8%B3_%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3"
    title: "روفس توماس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%81%D8%B3_%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3"
    title: "روفس توماس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%95%D9%88%D9%81%DB%86%D8%B3_%D8%AA%DB%86%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3"
    title: "ڕوفۆس تۆماس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%81%D8%B3_%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3"
    title: "روفس توماس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BB%E3%83%88%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B9"
    title: "ルーファス・トーマス"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%A3%A8%ED%8D%BC%EC%8A%A4_%ED%86%A0%EB%A8%B8%EC%8A%A4"
    title: "루퍼스 토머스"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%81%2C_%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%84%D1%83%D1%81"
    title: "Томас, Руфус"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Thomas"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/af1f46fe-903c-4bbf-8e20-a3e114343bd0"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1805782"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/23310"
    title: "Rufus Thomas"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump