LOS ANGELES - Rock 'n' roll pioneer Fats Domino has been rescued from the floodwaters of his New Orleans hometown, allaying fears that he may have perished in the grim aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, news reports said. The 77-year-old musician, who had told friends that he planned to ride out the storm, was rescued Monday night, according to the Associated Press and CNN. AP quoted his daughter, Karen Domino White, who lives in New Jersey and identified her father from a newspaper photograph showing a man being helped out of a boat by authorities. White told AP that she had been unable to speak to Domino and had no information on his wife, Rosemary, or any other family members in New Orleans.

Domino is beloved for his boogie-woogie piano style and such hits as "Ain't That a Shame," "Walking to New Orleans" and "Blueberry Hill." Domino's manager Al Embry told Reuters he spoke with Domino by telephone twice on Sunday, trying to persuade the singer to evacuate, but the musician insisted he was "going to try to ride out" the storm at home with his wife and his youngest daughter. Embry, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee, said friend and onetime country music star Mickey Gilley, a cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, got on the phone with him at one point on Sunday and "tried to beg (Domino) to leave." Domino lives in New Orleans' 9th Ward, which Embry said was believed to be underwater. The Fox News.com Web site reported that another Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter from New Orleans, Allen Toussaint, 67, was among more than 20,000 refugees at the New Orleans Superdome. Reuters