Zydeco is a music genre that was created in rural Southwest Louisiana by Afro-Americans of Creole heritage. It blends blues and rhythm and blues with music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles such as la la and juré, using the French accordion and a creole washboard instrument called the frottoir.
Sidney Simien, known professionally as Rockin' Sidney, was an American R&B, zydeco, and soul musician who began recording in the late 1950s and continued performing until his death. He is best known for his 1985 single "My Toot-Toot", which reached top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and earned him a Grammy Award.
The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to Creole Zydeco and Old French, New Orleans, and north Louisiana. The region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The music of the northern portion of the state starting at Baton Rouge and reaching Shreveport has similarities to that of the rest of the US South.
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based zydeco music. Both are from southwest Louisiana and share French and African origins. These French Louisiana sounds have influenced American popular music for many decades, especially country music, and have influenced pop culture through mass media, such as television commercials.
Clifton Chenier, was an American musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music that arose from Creole music, with R&B, blues, and Cajun influences. He sang and played the accordion. Chenier won a Grammy Award in 1983.
Wilson Anthony "Boozoo" Chavis was an American accordion player, singer, songwriter and bandleader. He was one of the pioneers of zydeco, the fusion of Louisiana Creole and blues music developed in southwest Louisiana.
Chris Ardoin is a zydeco accordionist and singer. He is one of the young artists that helped form nouveau zydeco, a new style of music that fused traditional zydeco with various styles including hip-hop, reggae and R&B.
James Floyd Soileau is an American record producer.
Beau Jocque was a Louisiana French Creole zydeco musician and songwriter active in the 1990s.
Rosie Ledet is an American Creole Zydeco accordion player and singer. Since circa 2020, she also performs under the name Rosie Bellard.
Joseph Denton "Jay" Miller was an American record producer and songwriter from Louisiana, whose Cajun, swamp blues, and swamp pop recordings influenced American popular culture.
A Cajun accordion, also known as a squeezebox, is single-row diatonic button accordion used for playing Cajun and Creole music.
"My Toot Toot", also popularly known as "Don't Mess with My Toot Toot" or "(Don't Mess with) My Toot Toot", is a song written by Sidney Simien and performed by him under his stage name Rockin' Sidney. Simien wrote the song and released it on the Maison de Soul Records label in Ville Platte, Louisiana. In October 1984, he included the tune on his third album, My Zydeco Shoes Got the Zydeco Blues, recording the entire album at his home studio in Lake Charles, Louisiana and playing all the instruments himself.
Cedric Watson is an American musician. He has been nominated four times for Grammy Awards.
John Irvin Delafose was an American French-speaking Creole Zydeco accordionist from Louisiana.
Andre Thierry is an American Zydeco musician. He leads the band Andre Thierry Accordion Soul Music.
Captain Gumbo is a Dutch band formed in 1987, which plays mostly zydeco and Cajun music; that is, music in the French traditions of the U.S. state of Louisiana, based around the diatonic accordion. In 1990, their version of "Allons à Lafayette" reached No. 30 in the Dutch singles chart. The band was still active as of 2013.
Louisiana Music is an album by the zydeco musician Rockin' Dopsie, released in 1991. His major label debut, it was also his final album.
Richard's Club was a nightclub and music venue in Lawtell, Louisiana. Proprietor Eddie Richard opened the club in 1947. It was a venue of the Southern Chitlin' Circuit, particularly as a stop between New Orleans and Houston on US Highway 190. Later it became a well known and historically significant zydeco venue. By the late 1990s, the club was regarded as "zydeco's answer to the Grand Ole Opry."
Jeffery Broussard is an American zydeco musician.
