[1][2] He was known for his ragtime and vaudeville style, and wrote some of the biggest hits of the first third of the 20th century; including "Some of These Days" and "At the Darktown Strutters' Ball".
[6] Brooks sang, played piano, and performed on the vaudeville circuit (notably, as a Bert Williams imitator) as well as having a successful songwriting career.
[7] After the sudden death of his partner Florence Mills in 1927, he stopped appearing in stage shows and pursued a nightclub act.
In the 1940s he became a regular in Ken Murray's "Blackouts", a long-running salute to burlesque that played in both New York and Los Angeles, California.
Brooks sang and provided piano accompaniments on records with vocalists Ethel Waters and Sara Martin.