BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO,
1947-2016

Buckwheat Zydeco, the Grammy-winning accordionist and singer who took regional Louisiana music around the globe, died Saturday after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 68.

Born Stanley Dural Jr. in Lafayette, La., he was a member of zydeco legend Clifton Chenier’s band before going solo. In the 1980s he recorded for Rounder, Black Top and then Island, making the first zydeco musician to sign to a major label. He also performed in the film The Big Easy.

Dural won a Grammy for his 2009 release on Alligator, Lay Your Burden Down; it was his final studio album.

Dural followed in the footsteps of his father, learning to be a mechanic—Dural Sr. worked on Chenier’s cars—while also learning to play piano and organ. He played funk and soul bands as a teenager before being asked to join Chenier’s group as organist.

He eventually left Chenier to start his own Ils Sont Partis Band. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, Dural performed and recorded with Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Mavis Staples, U2 and others. Besides playing traditional tunes sung in French, Dural was known for playing pop and rock songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart and The Rolling Stones.