Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. He played on over 460 RCA cuts with Elvis.

D. J. Fontana was employed by the Louisiana Hayride to be an in-house drummer on its Saturday night radio broadcast. In October 1954 he was hired to play drums for Presley, and that marked the beginning of a fifteen-year relationship. He performed on the NBC television special known as the '68 Comeback Special.
Fontana joined a band (originally assembled by Sam Phillips without a drummer) consisting of Scotty Moore (lead guitar), Bill Black (bass) and Elvis Presley (rhythm guitar), calling themselves "The Blue Moon Boys". This became the band that would perform and record the vast majority of the Elvis Presley hits of the 1950s (some also including piano and backing vocals from the Jordanaires) including "Heartbreak Hotel", "Hound Dog", "Don't Be Cruel", and "Jailhouse Rock". The band also toured extensively and performed on several television appearances including The Ed Sullivan Show through 1956 and 1957.

"Armed with accuracy, power, swing, dynamics, great time and - the biggest compliment of all - simplicity whenever it was best, D.J. rocked the greatest singer and the greatest songs.... ever. He did it year after year, record after classic record. In a world of one trick ponies and lucky "Rock Stars," D.J. is the real deal." ~ Stan Lynch

"I learned the value of simplicity at the Hayride. I heard Scotty and Bill and Elvis one night and knew that I couldn't mess up that sound. That's why I always play what I feel. If that won't work, I just won't do it again. I think the simple approach comes from my hearing so much big band music. I mixed it with rockabilly." ~ D.J. Fontana

The band officially broke up in 1958 although Fontana and Elvis still played and recorded together regularly throughout the 1960s. Moore would sometimes join them. Moore and Fontana have also performed together without Presley, including a 2002 recording of "That's All Right (Mama) with Paul McCartney. After 1958, Bill Black never played with the band again; he died in 1965.

In 1983, Fontana published a book in pictorial form titled D. J. Fontana Remembers Elvis about his years playing with Presley.

Fontana's Life and Times weekly phonecasting debuted on July 3, 2007.

Fontana's pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Nashville, which inducted him on January 14, 2009.

On April 4, 2009, Fontana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in the sidemen category.

Fontana has been portrayed by Ed Begley, Jr. in the film Elvis (1979) and by Eric William Pierson in the CBS mini-series Elvis (2005).

Fontana died on June 13, 2018 in his sleep at the age of 87.

Recordings
Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One, 2x Platinum
Blue Suede Shoes/Tutti Frutti, Gold
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You/My Baby Left Me, Platinum
Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel 4X Platinum
Love Me Tender/Any Way You Want Me, 3X Platinum
Too Much/Playing for Keeps, Platinum
All Shook Up/That's When Your Heartaches Begin, 2X Platinum
(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Loving You, 2x Platinum
Jailhouse Rock/Treat Me Nice, 2X Platinum
Don't/I Beg of You, Platinum
Wear My Ring Around Your Neck/Doncha' Think It's Time, Platinum
Hard Headed Woman/Don't Ask Me Why, Platinum
I Got Stung/One Night, Platinum
(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I/I Need Your Love Tonight, Platinum
A Big Hunk o' Love/My Wish Came True, Gold
Stuck on You/Fame and Fortune, Platinum
It's Now or Never/A Mess of Blues, Platinum
Are You Lonesome Tonight/I Gotta Know, 2X Platinum
Surrender/Lonely Man, Platinum
I Feel So Bad/Wild in the Country, Gold
(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame/Little Sister, Gold
Can't Help Falling in Love/Rock-a-Hula Baby, Platinum
Good Luck Charm/Anything That's Part of You, Platinum
She's Not You/Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello, Gold
Return to Sender/Where Do You Come From, Platinum
One Broken Heart For Sale/They Remind Me Too Much of You, Gold
(You're the) Devil in Disguise/Please Don't Drag That String Around, Gold
Bossa Nova Baby/Witchcraft, Gold
Kissin' Cousins/It Hurts Me, Gold
Viva Las Vegas/What'd I Say, Gold
Ain't That Loving You, Baby/Ask Me, Gold
Crying in the Chapel/I Believe in the Man in the Sky, Platinum
I'm Yours/Long Lonely Highway, Gold
Puppet on a String/Wooden Heart, Gold
Blue Christmas/Santa Claus Is Back in Town, Platinum
Tell Me Why/ Blue River, Gold
Frankie and Johnny/Please Don't Stop Loving Me, Gold
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.