Jo-El Sonnier

Biography

Jo-El Sonnier (; born Joel Sonnier; October 2, 1946 – January 13, 2024) was an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performed country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several minor singles on the Billboard country charts in the late 1970s. By the late 1980s, he had signed to RCA Records, breaking through with the Top Ten hits "No More One More Time" and a cover of Richard Thompson's "Tear-Stained Letter". Although his chart success waned at the beginning of the 1990s, he continued recording music, releasing more than thirty albums primarily on independent labels.

Biography

Jo-El Sonnier was born to French-speaking sharecroppers in Rayne, Louisiana, on October 2, 1946. At age three, he began to play his brother's accordion and quickly proved himself adept. By age six, Sonnier had performed on the radio; at age 11, he made his first recordings. He also released several independent singles and four albums as a teenager. By the 1970s, he was signed to Mercury Nashville Records, but without much success in the country music field.
Sonnier temporarily abandoned his pursuit of a country music career in favor of recording Cajun music on the independent Rounder Records label. Although his independent album did not produce much commercial success, it was nominated for a Grammy Award. After being signed as Merle Haggard's opening act, Sonnier later decided to return to country music; he was signed to RCA Records in the 1980s, where his biggest successes came in the singles "No More One More Time" and a cover of British singer Richard Thompson's "Tear-Stained Letter", songs which landed in the Top 10 on the country charts. Sonnier and Thompson performed the song together for a 1990 appearance on the American series Night Music (season 2, episode 16).
In the 1990s, Sonnier moved to Capitol Records, but his solo career faltered soon afterwards. He continued to find success as a session musician, and briefly took up acting as well. In the late 1990s, he returned to Rounder Records to record Cajun music once more, occasionally collaborating with Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil. Sonnier also saw his second Grammy nomination, for the 1997 album Cajun Pride; a third soon followed with 2001's Cajun Blood being nominated for Best Traditional Folk Album.
In 2009, Sonnier was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
Sonnier made a brief cameo appearance as a member of a dance band in the third episode of the first season of the HBO crime series True Detective, which is set in southern Louisiana.
On February 8, 2015, Sonnier won a Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album.
Sonnier died of a heart attack on January 13, 2024, just after a performance at Llano Country Opry in Llano, Texas, where he had played for over an hour and received a standing ovation. His performance ended with his signature "Tear-Stained Letter" and an encore of "Jambalaya". He was 77.

Personal life

In 2017, Sonnier self-published a book titled The Little Boy Under the Wagon, in which he revealed that he had been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.