Aaron Neville Relevant

Hurricane Katrina has resurrected the dying career of Aaron Neville, one of the city’s slightly famous musical artists.

Mr. Neville, whose career reached it’s zenith in the early 80s with albums by his family band The Neville Brothers and duets with ingénue Linda Rondstadt, has of late been playing late night gigs at casino boats in Biloxi, Mississippi and Kenner, Louisiana.

His last gig before Hurricane Katrina made landfall was a double-bill with local act The Radiators at the Boomtown Belle Casino in Gretna, Louisiana. The concert featured a free all-you-can-eat rib bar and a voucher worth $20 of slot machine credit.

But today, with the country clamoring for a familiar New Orleans face to give a soundtrack to the tragedy, Mr. Neville is in high demand.

“Two weeks ago, I couldn’t even get the Carson Daly Show to call me back,” says Mr. Neville’s Los Angeles-based agent, Martin Fein. “This morning, I just turned down Regis and Kelly.”

“At this point, we’ve got to be a lock for The National Anthem at the Superbowl—or at least ‘America the Beautiful’” Mr. Fine continued. “Hell, he may even end up singing a shortened version of ‘Louisiana 1927’ during halftime. It’s all on the table.”