Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Zachary Richard, CM is a Cajun singer/songwriter and poet. His music is an innovative combination of Cajun and Zydeco musical styles.
Biography
Zachary Richard began his musical career at the age of 8, as soprano in the Bishop's Boys Choir at Saint John’s Cathedral in Lafayette, Louisiana. He attended Cathedral High School and Tulane University, graduating summa cum laude in 1972.
Richard has recorded Cajun and zydeco music for over 35 years. He has recorded sixteen studio albums of which five were declared gold albums in Canada with a double platinum (Cap Enragé). Although recording in both English and French, Richard’s career has been notably Francophone. He has been awarded 5 Prix Félix (Quebec music award named after Félix Leclerc). He is an Officer in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres de la République Française and a member of the Ordre des Francophones d’Amérique. In 1980, he was awarded the Prix de la Jeune Chanson Française by the French Minister of Culture.
In addition to his musical works, Richard published works include 3 volumes of poetry and 3 children’s books. Faire Récolte earned the Prix Champlain (Quebec) in 1998 and Feu received the Roland Gasparic Award (Bucharest, Romania) in 2002.
Richard has collaborated on several television documentary projects including Against the Tide, the Story of the Cajun people of Louisiana (producer and music director) which received the Best Historical Documentary prize in 2000 awarded by the National Educational Television Association. The French version, Contre vents, contre marées received the Prix Historia the following year. Zachary was narrator and musical director of Migrations", Vu du Large, Coeurs Batailleurs and most recently Kouchibouguac, l’histoire de Jackie Vautour et des Expropriés.
A lifelong resident of the Acadiana region of south Louisiana, Richard is a committed to the protection of the natural environment. In collaboration with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, he participated in the television documentary Labranche, Legacy of the Lost. A founding member of Action Cadienne, Richard remains committed to the preservation and promotion of the French language of Louisiana.
In 2009, he was made an honorary Member of the Order of Canada "for his contributions as an author, composer, singer and poet, and for his important role in defending and promoting the French language and the "Cadian" and Acadian identity".
Richard suffered from a stroke on October 17, 2010, leading him to suspend work and appearances for the rest of that year.
