April 12

Leo "The Bull" Thomas died on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at the age of 84 in Elton, Louisiana. Known in the Zydeco Nation as "The Bull" and the "Best Dress Man In Zydeco," Leo Thomas was the first and on...

Highly respected and sultry jazz and blues singer, Ms. Dakota Staton, (pronounced STAY-Ton) died on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 at the Isabella Geriatric Center in New York City at the age of 76. Sharynn...

Harry 'Big Daddy' Hypolite, talented guitarist and sideman for more than 40 years, most notably in the bands of the Zydeco great Clifton Chenier, later Chenier's son C.J. Chenier and Nathan & the Zyde...

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 PM, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, while preparing to lead a local march in support of the heavily black...

Clinton “Santy” Runyon (b 1907) died on April 4, 2003 in Lafayette, Louisiana at the age of 96. Santy Runyon was a world renowned saxophonist, who played in Al Capone's speakeasy club, The Coliseum, a...

Edward Gay Robinson known to the world as Eddie Robinson was died on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 11:30 p.m. at Lincoln General Hospital. He is survived by his wife, Doris, two children, five grandchildr...

Highly respected and sultry jazz and blues singer, Ms. Dakota Staton, (pronounced STAY-Ton) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 3, 1930. She began singing and dancing at the age of 7 She rece...

Huddie Ledbetter, better known to the music world as “Lead Belly” died on December 6, 1949 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease). He later became known as the “King of the twelve-s...

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the son of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Dr King helped break down the color barri...

Zydeco musician Chirs Ardoin, lead singer and accordionist of Chris Ardoin & Nu Step Zydeko was born on March 7, 1981 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Chris Ardoin helped pioneer and develop the "Double Cl...

Alton Rubin, known to the Zydeco Nation as Rockin' Dopsie "the Prince of Zydeco", was born on February 10, 1932 in Carencro, Louisiana. As a child he worked in the sugarcane and cotton fields. His fat...

On Wednesday, May 21, 2014, Creole musician, Goldman Thibodeaux was presented the Louisiana Folk Life Heritage Award as part of the Louisiana Culture Awards by Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne.