Fats Domino

Fats Domino Safe After Boat Rescue From Flood

By REUTERS
Published: September 2, 2005
Filed at 3:27 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock 'n' roll pioneer Fats Domino, who went missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was rescued by boat from floodwaters near his New Orleans home and is ``stressed out'' but safe, his agent said on Friday.

Domino, 77, beloved for his boogie-woogie piano style and such hits as ``Ain't That a Shame'' and ``Blueberry Hill,'' ended up as one of thousands of New Orleans residents stranded by flooding after he rebuffed pleas from friends to evacuate as the storm bore down on the city, agent Al Embry told Reuters.

The rotund musician, his wife, Rosemary, and at least one daughter were picked up by rescue boat on Tuesday following frantic efforts by Embry to alert authorities that Domino and his family were believed trapped in their home, Embry said.

``We heard he was on the balcony with his family and waving to people,'' Embry said.

He said Domino and his family initially were taken to the New Orleans Superdome with thousands of other evacuees and have since been moved'

Embry said he last spoke with Domino by telephone on Sunday night, hours before Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast, and the musician's fate had remained a mystery until Thursday evening, when news reports first surfaced that he9th Ward.

Reuters/VNU