Festival Acadiens to honor 'King of Zydeco' Clifton Chenier

Festival Acadiens et Créoles — the original and largest Cajun and Zydeco music festival — is planning to honor Clifton Chenier, the “King of Zydeco,” who performed at the first festival held in 1974.

Chenier — a Grammy-winning musician renowned for his efforts to modernize Zydeco music and one of the first internationally-famous Zydeco artists — will be celebrated with performances by some of his protégés and tributes from other well-known musicians.

The festival is slated for October 13-15 at Girard Park in Lafayette.

“Clifton Chenier made Zydeco music popular and put Acadiana on the map,” said Barry Ancelet, the festival’s director, in a press release. “He was pivotal in making Creole culture and music a global trend. By honoring Clifton, we’re expressing our gratitude to a musical genius and a guiding light for our culture.”

The opening night of the festival will feature tributes from Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars, as well as Corey Ledet and His Zydeco Band. Grammy-nominated artist and former Chenier apprentice Sonny Landreth will also be doing a tribute.

On October 14, Scéne la Louisiane will feature Clifton Chenier’s son, C.J. Chenier, and the Red Hot Louisiana Band as he pays homage to his father’s legacy.

The full music line-up will be released in August.

Chenier, the “King of Zydeco,” was an accordion player and vocalist who helped bring the sounds of South Louisiana’s Creole and Zydeco culture to the world. He was born in Opelousas in 1925 and died in Lafayette in 1987.

He won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1984 for his album “I’m Here.” Chenier received numerous other accolades, including the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.

One of his albums, “Bogalusa Boogie,” was chosen by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Louisiana Musical Hall of Fame in 2011.

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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Festival Acadiens to honor 'King of Zydeco' Clifton Chenier