Clarence"Frogman" Henry

Clarence Henry was born in New Orleans on March 19, 1937 and grew up in the Algiers neighborhood across the river, where he learned piano at eight, inspired by the Fats Domino and Professor Longhair recordings he heard on the radio. By his teens he was leading his own combo, and one night he debuted a new song, "Ain't Got No Home," showcasing a startling three-voice trick: a girlish falsetto, his natural baritone, and a deep bullfrog croak that gave him his permanent nickname.

Chess Records initially released the song as a B-side in 1956, but disc jockey Poppa Stoppa flipped it, and listeners requested it by the thousands. It peaked at number three R&B and crossed to the pop Top 40. Three follow-up singles failed to chart, and Henry settled in as a Bourbon Street fixture — then came back electrifyingly in 1961 with "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do," produced by Allen Toussaint and Paul Gayten, which went to number four pop.

"You Always Hurt the One You Love" followed as another chart success, giving Henry a brief peak of pop visibility before he settled permanently into his natural habitat: the clubs and festivals of New Orleans, where his music found its happiest and most appreciative home.

Henry has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival many times and remained a beloved institution to the end — the Frogman, still croaking, still making rooms smile, still carrying the bounce of the city's golden R&B era in every note.