Clarence Henry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, in 1937, moving to the Algiers neighborhood in 1948. He started learning piano as a child, with Fats Domino and Professor Longhair being his main influences. When Henry played in talent shows, he dressed like Longhair and wore a wig with braids on both sides. He joined Bobby Mitchell & the Toppers in 1952, playing piano and trombone, before leaving when he graduated in 1955 to join saxophonist Eddie Smith’s band.

He used his trademark croak to improvise the song “Ain’t Got No Home” one night in 1955. Chess Records’ A&R man Paul Gayten heard the song, and had Henry record it in Cosimo Matassa’s studio in September 1956. Initially promoted by local DJ Poppa Stoppa, the song eventually rose to number 3 on the national R&B chart and number 20 on the US pop chart. The gimmick earned Henry his nickname of ‘Frogman’ and jump-started a career that endures to this day.

His 1961 hit, (I Don’t Know Why) But I Do, has been covered by Bobby Vinton in 1972 in a pop version. It is also being used in a 2019 commercial for Expedia, showcasing its ability to provide dog-friendly hotel accommodations.

Henry opened eighteen concerts for the Beatles across the US and Canada in 1964, but his main source of income came from the Bourbon Street strip in New Orleans, where he played for nineteen years. His name could still draw hordes of tourists long after his hit-making days had ended. He still plays at various conventions, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

On his 1981 Live/Indian Summer album, Al Stewart introduced his song “Year of the Cat” with an odd anecdote about a mistaken-identity encounter involving Henry, Audrey Hepburn, and G. Gordon Liddy. Henry’s original song was later featured on the soundtrack of the 1982 film Diner. Rod Stewart uses the chorus of “Ain’t Got No Home” in his 1984 single “Some Guys Have All the Luck”. It achieved fresh notoriety in the 1990s through its use as the “Homeless Update” theme music on The Rush Limbaugh Show, and is still used as recently as December 7, 2017.

This song is also in the 1995 movie Casino playing in the background as Joe Pesci asks Robert De Niro for a 50K chip marker. Jimmy Buffett referenced Henry in his song “Saxophones”. Henry made a cameo appearance on the third season opening episode of the HBO series Treme.

Henry’s pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In April 2007, Henry was honored for his contributions to Louisiana music with induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Clarence “Frogman” Henry among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.