Ralph Zachary Richard (born September 8, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and poet. His music is a combination of

Cajun The Cajuns (; Louisiana French language, French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French people, Louisiana French ethnic group, ethnicity mainly found in the ...

and

Zydeco Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. A ...

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 Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234t ...

. He attended Cathedral High School and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive ...

, graduating summa cum laude in 1972. Richard has recorded Cajun and

zydeco Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. A ...

music for over 45 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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 three volumes of poetry and three children's books. ''Faire Récolte'' earned the Prix Champlain (Quebec) in 1998 and ''Feu'' received the Roland Gasparic Award (

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

) 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''. In 2009, he was made an honorary Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

"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". In August 2010, following the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

and the ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill, Zachary Richard released an album titled ''Le grand gosier'' featuring a hip-hop version of "Le grand gosier" by singer-songwriter Rocky McKeon using the original chorus in

Louisiana French Louisiana French ( frc, français de la Louisiane; lou, françé la lwizyàn) is an umbrella term for the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisi ...

and adding verses by Samian in French and Emrical in

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

. The chorus was performed by Zachary Richard, Rocky McKeon and a slew of well-known Canadian francophone artists, notably Bobby Bazini, Daniel Lavoie, Marc Hervieux, Richard Séguin and Luc de Larochellière. The album also includes a version of "Le grand gosier" with verses solely in

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

, and another version with verses solely in

. Richard suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop funct ...

on October 17, 2010, leading him to suspend work and appearances for the rest of that year. He has since resumed touring, recording, and writing on his blog.

Discography

* 1972 - ''High Time'' (re-released 2000) * 1976 - ''Bayou des mystères'' * 1977 - ''Mardi Gras'' * 1978 - ''Migration'' * 1979 - ''Allons danser'' * 1980 - ''Live in Montreal'' * 1981 - ''Vent d'Été'' * 1984 - ''Zack Attack'' * 1987 - ''Looking Back'' (compilation 2LP) * 1988 - ''Zack's Bon Ton'' * 1989 - ''Mardi Gras Mambo'' * 1990 - ''Women in the Room'' * 1992 - ''Snake Bite Love'' * 1996 - ''Cap Enragé'' * 2000 - ''Coeur fidèle'' * 2000 - ''Silver Jubilee'' (compilation) * 2002 - ''Travailler c'est trop dur'' (double compilation) * 2007 - ''Lumière dans le noir'' * 2009 - ''Last Kiss'' * 2010 - ''Le Grand Gosier'' * 2012 - ''Le fou'' * 2013 - ''J'aime la vie'' * 2017 - ''Gombo''

Published works

* 1980 - ''Voyage de nuit'' (Les Intouchables, Montreal) * 1997 - ''Faire récolte'' (with audio CD, Perce Neige, Moncton) * 1999 - ''Conte Cajun, l'Histoire de Télésphore et 'Tit Edvard'' (Les Intouchables, Montreal) * 2001 - ''Feu'' (Les Intouchables, Montreal) * 2007 - ''Télésphore et 'Tit Edvard dans le Nord'' (Les Intouchables, Montreal)

Major distinctions

* 1978 - Gold record for ''L'arbre est dans ses feuilles'', RIAA Canada * 1978 - Gold Album for ''Migration'', RIAA Canada * 1980 - Prix de la jeune chansons française, République Française * 1997 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec * 1997 - Officier l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres de la Rébublique Française * 1998 - Membre l'Ordre des Francophones d'Amérique * 1998 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec * 1998 - Prix Litéraire Champlain, Conseil de la vie française en Amérique * 1999 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec * 2000 - MéritasAcadien, Fédération Acadienne du Québec * 2001 - Double Platinum album for ''Cap Enragé'', RIAA Canada * 2001 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec * 2002 - Prix Historia, L'institut d'Histoire de l'Amérique Française * 2005 -

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. a ...

Honoraire en Musique, Honoris Causa,

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian francophone university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on higher ed ...

, New Brunswick * 2007 - Félix, l'ADISQ, Chanteur francophone le plus illustré au Québec * 2007 - Chevalier, l'Ordre de la Pléiade * 2008 - Honorary PhD in Fine Arts, Honoris Cause,

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the ...

* 2009 - PhD Honoraire en Littérature,

Université Sainte-Anne Université Sainte-Anne is a French-language university in Pointe-de-l'Église, Nova Scotia, Canada. It and the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick are the only French-language universities in the Maritime Provinces. History It was found ...

, Nova Scotia * 2009 - Order of Canada * 2010 - Honorary member of Regroupement QuébecOiseaux

References

External links