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John Paul Larkin was born March 13, 1942 in El Monte, California. John's whole life was shaped by his severe stutter. As a child, he struggled with it, only towards the end of his life did it become one of his greatest assets. John's early life was troubling to say the least. He started drinking at the age of 14. By the time he turned 18, John had become an alcoholic. As a teen, John started scating because it gave him a sense of freedom and communication that he could not obtain with regular conversation. As a young adult, John was constantly jumping between clubs and struggled with addiction to hard drugs. Looking at images of him through this period of his life is rough, you can tell the drugs and alcohol were taking a heavy toll on his body. He was not taking care of himself mentally or physically. In 1984, John recorded his first album marking the start of his public music career. In 1986, the album was released under his own label. From here on, things started to get better for John. He ended up getting sober and met his wife who encouraged him to become a Jazz Pianist.

In 1990, John and his wife moved to Berlin, Germany so he could better pursue his music career. After moving, he first started playing for cruise ships and hotels until one day after playing aside Iceberg Records, they approached John asking about the last song on the tape he had given them. It was a song with him scatting! The idea of scatting to techno and dance music was floated around and all of a sudden, the concept of Scatman John was born! In 1994, Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) was released to the public. It has been described as "a blend of jazz scatting, rap, and house beats", and reached number-one on the charts in at least ten countries. In 1995, the album Scatman's World was released. It become an instant hit in Japan and secured him a bragging right which is being able to claim he is the most successful overseas artist of all time. John went on to publish two more albums, Everybody Jam! (1996) and Take Your Time (1999). Unfortunatly John was taken from us December 3, 1999, the same year his last album released. He died to lung cancer at the age of 57.

The impact that John has had on the world should not be understated or understimated. John's lyrics have reached out to millions, if not billions of listeners. His lyrics espoused unity, empathy, and an acute understanding of the world around him. John's music has helped many people all across the world with their own stuttering issues by being a big source of inspiration. Always remember that if the Scatman can do it, so can you! Your dreams and ambitions have yet to be born.