Ill Domino pulls out of jazz show

Fats Domino was top billing at the festival

Blues legend Fats Domino, who survived last year's Hurricane Katrina, has cancelled his performance at a New Orleans festival due to ill-health.

He was taken to hospital hours before his appearance although the nature of his ailment has not been disclosed.

Domino was rescued from the floodwaters that overwhelmed the city following the hurricane in August 2005.

The 78-year-old was due to close the event on Sunday to mark the end of the first post-Katrina Jazzfest.

Attraction

"It's more cautionary than anything else," festival producer Quint Davis told news agency Reuters.

The musician, famed for his fast-playing piano style, had featured on a poster for the event. Lionel Richie was being lined up as his replacement.

The first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival took place in 1970 and has become the city's biggest attraction after the Mardi Gras.

Domino, whose hits include Blueberry Hill, was recently inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame.

The New Orleans native was one of many who remained in the city during the hurricane and was at one point feared dead following the flooding.