Wayne Toups
Encyclopedia
Wayne Toups is one of the most commercially successful American
Cajun
singers. He is also a songwriter
.
. He first picked up an accordion when he was 13 and quickly began winning local accordion
contests. Toups has combined his love of Cajun music
, rock, R&B, and zydeco
into a genre he calls Zydecajun. He sings in both English and French.
Toups released his first album, Wayne Toups and the Crowley Aces in Europe in the early 1970s. Toups began gaining popularity in the United States around 1984
when he began performing at local festivals such as the Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette, Louisiana
. In 1987
he released his first album, Zydecajun. The Cajun French Music Association's awarded him their "Song of the Year" Award in 1990 for his song "Late in Life." Three of his songs, including wedding favorite "Take My Hand", were featured in the movie Dirty Rice, and some of his work is also featured on the soundtracks for the movie Steel Magnolias and the television show "Broken Badges". He has recorded for the major record labels Polygram and Mercury. His 1995 release, Back to the Bayou became the fastest-selling record ever for the independent Louisiana label Swallow Records.
Besides playing his own music, Toups has been featured playing the accordion on singles for many country music stars. He appears on the Mark Chesnutt
Number One hits "Gonna Get a Life" and "It Sure Is Monday
", on Clay Walker
's "Live Laugh Love", and Alan Jackson
's "Little Bitty
." He has also played with Sammy Kershaw
, George Jones
, Mark Wills
, Garth Brooks
, and Ty England
.
Toups is known for wearing bright tropical shirts during his performances. He has toured in over twenty-six countries, including in South America
, Canada
, Europe
and the Far East. He has appeared on MTV
and on the 1990 Super Bowl
telecast. He has many relatives in the Texas
/Louisiana
area.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
singers. He is also a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
.
Biography
Wayne Toups was born into a family of rice farmers in Crowley, LouisianaCrowley, Louisiana
Crowley is a city in and the parish seat of Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 14,225 at the 2000 census. The city is noted for its annual International Rice Festival. Crowley has the nickname of "Rice Capital of America", because at one time it was a major center for...
. He first picked up an accordion when he was 13 and quickly began winning local accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
contests. Toups has combined his love of Cajun music
Cajun music
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
, rock, R&B, and zydeco
Zydeco
Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
into a genre he calls Zydecajun. He sings in both English and French.
Toups released his first album, Wayne Toups and the Crowley Aces in Europe in the early 1970s. Toups began gaining popularity in the United States around 1984
1984 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...
when he began performing at local festivals such as the Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
. In 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
he released his first album, Zydecajun. The Cajun French Music Association's awarded him their "Song of the Year" Award in 1990 for his song "Late in Life." Three of his songs, including wedding favorite "Take My Hand", were featured in the movie Dirty Rice, and some of his work is also featured on the soundtracks for the movie Steel Magnolias and the television show "Broken Badges". He has recorded for the major record labels Polygram and Mercury. His 1995 release, Back to the Bayou became the fastest-selling record ever for the independent Louisiana label Swallow Records.
Besides playing his own music, Toups has been featured playing the accordion on singles for many country music stars. He appears on the Mark Chesnutt
Mark Chesnutt
Mark Nelson Chesnutt is an American country music singer. Chesnutt recorded and released his first album, Doing My Country Thing, in the late-1980s on private independent record label, Axbar Records, with the vinyl album version now a collector's item...
Number One hits "Gonna Get a Life" and "It Sure Is Monday
It Sure Is Monday
"It Sure Is Monday" is the title of a song written by Dennis Linde and recorded by American country music artist Mark Chesnutt. It was released in May 1993 as the first single released from his CD, Almost Goodbye. The song reached number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...
", on Clay Walker
Clay Walker
Ernest Clayton "Clay" Walker Jr. is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single "What's It to You," which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, as did its follow-up, 1994's "Live Until I Die." Both singles were included on...
's "Live Laugh Love", and Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
's "Little Bitty
Little Bitty
"Little Bitty" is the title of a song written by American country music singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall and recorded by Alan Jackson. It was released in October 1996 as the lead-off single to Jackson's fifth studio album Everything I Love. The song reached the top of the U.S. Billboard country music...
." He has also played with Sammy Kershaw
Sammy Kershaw
Samuel Paul "Sammy" Kershaw is an American country music artist. A third cousin of Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw and ex-husband of Lorrie Morgan, he has been active in country music since 1991. He has released ten studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications...
, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, Mark Wills
Mark Wills
Daryl Mark Williams is an American country music artist, best known professionally as Mark Wills. Signed to Mercury Records between 1996 and 2003, he released five studio albums for the label — Mark Wills, Wish You Were Here, Permanently, Loving Every Minute and And the Crowd Goes Wild — as well...
, Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
, and Ty England
Ty England
Gary Tyler "Ty" England is an American country music singer and guitarist. Initially a member of Garth Brooks' band, England began his solo career in 1995, recording a self-titled debut album on RCA Records. A second album, Two Ways to Fall, followed in 1996...
.
Toups is known for wearing bright tropical shirts during his performances. He has toured in over twenty-six countries, including in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Far East. He has appeared on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and on the 1990 Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
telecast. He has many relatives in the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
/Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
area.
Albums
| Year | Single | US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Zydecajun | Mercury | |
| 1988 | Johnnie Can't Dance | 183 | |
| 1989 | Blast from the Bayou | ||
| 1991 | Fish Out of Water | ||
| 1992 | Down Home Live! | MTE | |
| 1995 | Back to the Bayou | Swallow | |
| 1997 | Toups | New Blues | |
| 1998 | More Than Just a Little | BTM | |
| 1999 | The Best of Wayne Toups | New Blues | |
| 2000 | Little Wooden Box | Shanachie | |
| 2004 | Whoever Said It Was Easy | ||
| 2005 | Reflections of the Past | D&R | |
| 2008 | The Essential Wayne Toups | New Blues |
Singles
| Year | Single | US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Free Me" | 66 | More Than Just a Little |
See also
- History of Cajun MusicHistory of Cajun musicCajun music has its roots based in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada and Country music.-Early years:The first form of traditional cajun music began before the 20th century in south Louisiana. When the Acadians came from New Brunswick & Nova Scotia to Louisiana in 1764, they...
- List of Notable People Related to Cajun Music
- Cajun accordionCajun accordionA Cajun accordion also known as a squeezebox is single-row diatonic button accordion used for playing Cajun music.-History:Many different accordions were developed in Europe throughout the 19th century, and exported worldwide...