Joseph Vernon "Joe" Turner, Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985), best known as Big Joe Turner, was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." While he had his greatest fame during the 1950s with his rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", Turner's career as a performer endured from the 1920s into the 1980s.