Fats Domino named 'honorary grand marshal'

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The music of rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame performer Fats Domino will "float" through the streets of New Orleans this Carnival season...

Adam Howard

Dec 20, 2013

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The music of rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame performer Fats Domino will “float” through the streets of New Orleans this Carnival season.

Domino has been named honorary grand marshal of the Krewe of Orpheus, the star-studded Carnival club that traditionally parades the night before Mardi Gras.

Although Domino won’t be riding in the March 3 parade, his eldest son Antoine Domino III is expected to ride on a float equipped with a piano and speakers to perform his father’s greatest hits, such as “Blue Monday,” ”The Fat Man,” ”Blueberry Hill” and “Walking to New Orleans.”

Other family members are expected to ride and throw coaster-size gold record doubloons and other Fats Domino-themed trinkets from the float.

Mardi Gras is March 4.

New Orleans artist Michael Hunt has designed a poster to commemorate the occasion. The posters will be autographed by Domino and available for purchase.

Domino, known for his reclusive nature, rarely leaves the suburban New Orleans home where he’s lived since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Water poured through a broken levee, flooding Domino’s home in the Lower 9th Ward. His belongings, instruments, pictures and a lifetime of memorabilia were damaged or lost in Katrina’s floodwaters.

But two of his pianos were salvaged and are on public display in New Orleans, though neither of them is playable.

A white Steinway grand piano had its classic looks restored and will be part of the Louisiana State Museum’s music exhibition opening in 2014. His other Steinway piano is on permanent display at the Presbytere museum in the exhibition “Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond.”

Domino, born in New Orleans in 1928, sold more than 65 million records between 1950 and 1963, making Billboard’s pop chart 77 times and its rhythm and blues chart 61 times. The pianist, singer and songwriter is regarded as one of the forerunners of rock music, beloved by musicians like the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Billy Joel.

It’s not surprising that Orpheus wanted to honor Domino and his music in some way. The Orpheus parade organization is rooted in music. It was co-founded in 1993 by New Orleans native singer Harry Connick Jr. and Sonny Borey, who serves as the parade organization’s captain.

Each year musical guests are invited to ride in the parade and perform at the glitzy ball held afterward at a nearby convention center.

Orpheus leaders have already announced that the 1970s rock band Cheap Trick will be headlining the 2014 Orpheuscapade gala.

Cheap Trick’s biggest hits include “Surrender,” ”I Want You to Want Me” and “The Flame.”

Other musical acts scheduled to perform at the gala include Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and The Party Crashers.