Fats Domino missing in New Orleans flood

Fats Domino is missing in New Orleans, days after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, his agent Al Embry said today.

Embry said he hadn’t been able to contact Domino since talking to him Sunday evening by phone.

The 77-year-old R&B legend, whose real name is Antoine Domino, told Embry that he planned to stay at his New Orleans house with his wife, Rosemary, and their daughter.

“I hope somebody turns him up, but as of right now, we haven’t got anybody that knows where he’s at,” said Embry, who has worked with Domino for 28 years. “I would think he might be safe because somebody said he was on top of the balcony.”

Checquoline Davis, Domino’s niece, posted a message on Craigslist.com today pleading for information. Davis wrote that Domino, his wife, their children and grandchildren “didn’t get out” of the second floor.

Domino, who has rarely appeared in public in recent years, has a home in the 9th ward, a low-lying area of the flooded city.

Getting information on possible missing persons has been nearly impossible as phone lines for hospitals and police haven’t been working.

Domino has sold more than 110 million records in his long career, including the legendary singles Blueberry Hill and Ain’t That a Shame.

His 1950 recording of The Fat Man is sometimes called the first real rock ’n’ roll record. He was among the first honourees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.