May 12

Zydeco Historical & Preservation Society web developer Rob Ricks brought the fourth (4th) version ZydecoOnline website online. The original and first version of the ZydecoOnline.com website was launch...

Robert Leroy Johnson, one of the greatest blues musicians of all time, was born on May 8, 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi to Julia Major Dodds and Noah Johnson. Although his records sold poorly during...

Cleveland Chenier, rubboard innovator, band member and brother of Clifton Chenier, was born on May 16, 1921 in the rural community of Notleyville, just east of Opelousas, Louisiana. Cleveland was also...

Mr. Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin, internationally known Creole accordionist, singer, and one of the Zydeco Nation’s last living link to the old Creole musical tradition called “la la music” or “la musiq...

Isaac "Ike" Willis died on Saturday, May 16, 2026 of prostate cancer at the age of 70. A guitar protege since the age of 8, Ike Willis was a mainstay in progressive rock, alternative rock and R&B and...

Cleveland Chenier, rubboard innovator, band member and brother of Clifton Chenier, died Tuesday May 7, 1991 at 11:10 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana at the age of 70. He i...

Clifton Chenier won a Grammy Award at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording for his 1983 album "I’m Here."

James Joseph Brown, commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", was born on May 3, 1933 during the depression era in the small town of Barnwell, Sou...

James Joseph Brown, commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", died on December 25, 2006 at approximately 1:45 a.m. from congestive heart failure r...

Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin was born on November 16, 1915, at l'Anse de Prien Noir (Black Cyprian's Cove) near Bayou Duralde, Louisiana. He began playing music (on the triangle) with Amédé when he was...

Joseph "Bebe" Carriere Sr. (b 1909), legendary Creole Fiddler and Creole music pioneer, died on April 22, 2001 at the age of 92. Joseph "Bebe" Carriere Sr , along with his brother Eraste “Dolan” Carri...

Baldemar Huerta, known to the world as Freddy Fender, was born on June 4, 1937 in San Benito, Texas. Freddy Fender was a Mexican-American, Tejano, country, and rock and roll musician, known for his wo...