HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — Hip-hop legend Flavor Flav will be wearing a newly created official World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade signature clock when he fires the starter’s pistol at 6:30 p.m. Monday to begin the 22nd annual edition of the world-famous Hot Springs celebration.
“Flavor Flav’s official clock craftsman, Rock’n Stones, just completed the special Hot Springs instrument,” Visit Hot Springs Marketing Director Bill Solleder said Friday afternoon. “It’s a working clock, too. Amazing!”
Flav is known for his signature clock necklaces and has a long-standing relationship with the jewelry company Rock’n Stones, Solleder said.
The hip-hop legend has collaborated with Rock’n Stones, owned by Kelly Salvaggio, to create numerous custom clock necklaces. At the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) Gala, Flav auctioned off a custom, iced-out clock necklace made by Rock’n Stones, raising $15,000 for initiatives addressing racism in the music industry. He sported a custom Team USA water polo cap and matching clock necklace at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, cheering on the Team USA water polo team. Flav gifted U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles a bedazzled bronze clock necklace after she was stripped of her medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The entertainer said his clock necklaces are a symbol of time’s importance, as he says, “The reason why I wear this clock is because, you know, time is the most important element, and when we stop, time keeps going.”
“Flavor Flav is one of the most recognizable legends in entertainment, and he will bring his contagious energy to our big little parade,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said. “He’ll be the perfect person to fire the official starter’s pistol when our parade steps off on 98-foot Bridge Street.”
The Hall of Fame rapper, co-founder of the pioneering hip-hop group Public Enemy, is a musical prodigy who is proficient on 15 instruments.
He first burst onto the scene in the late 1980s, where he emerged as a co-founder of Public Enemy. Possessing the most sampled voice in the history of hip-hop, Flavor Flav (along with his group) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2020.
The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade annually attracts upwards of 30,000 fans to downtown Hot Springs where a zany array of floats, marching bands, Irish Elvis impersonators, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, wacky costumed groups and guest celebrities cover the 98-foot Bridge Street parade route on the World’s Shortest Street in Everyday Use.
For more information contact Bill Solleder, 501-321-2027.