June 30

Thomas Andrew Dorsey, the father of gospel music, was born on July 1, 1899 in the small town of Villa Rica, Georgia. Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom. As Georgia...

Albert John Lewis, lead accordionist for Al Rapone & The Zydeco Express was born on Friday, June 26, 1936 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He partnered with his sister Ida Guillory and brother Willie Lewis...

William Thomas Dupree, known to the Blues, Nation, Southern Soul Nation, Zydeco Nation and the world as “Champion” Jack Dupree, considered one of the most prolific recording Bluesmen of all time, was...

Clifton Chenier, “the King of Zydeco” was born on June 25, 1925 in the rural community of Notleyville, just east of Opelousas, Louisiana. Clifton Chenier was the first Creole artist to win a Grammy aw...

Southern Soul & Blues singer Jacqueline "Jazzy Jackie" Neal was born on July 7, 1967 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was the daughter of internationally known Baton Rouge blues man Raful Neal. Eight of...

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...

Thomas Andrew Dorsey, the father of gospel music, died on January 23, 1993 in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 93. He is interred there in the Oak Woods Cemetery. Earlier in his life he was a leading b...

Frank Mendenhall was born March 14, 1948 in Camden, Alabama. With one of the most angelic falsetto voice in the Zydeco, Southern Soul, and Blues nation, and one of the few Southern Soul performers to...

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...

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...

Stanley Dural, Jr., known to the world as Buckwheat Zydeco was born on November 14, 1947 in Lafayette, Louisiana. In 1971, he founded Buckwheat & the Hitchhikers, a funk band that he led for five year...