Image of Zachary Richard

Zachary Richard

Ralph Zachary Richard (born September 8, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and poet. His music is a combination of Cajun and Zydeco musical styles. 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 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 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, 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. 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". In August 2010, following the 2010 Haiti earthquake 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 and adding verses by Samian in French and Emrical in Haitian Creole. 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, and another version with verses solely in Haitian Creole. Richard suffered a stroke 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. Source: Article "Zachary Richard" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.


Read bio at tmdb | Read bio at Wikipedia
Born:
Sep 8, 1950
Movie/TV Credits:
19
First Appeared:
In the series Le Grand spectacle de la Fête nationale à Montréal
Latest Project:
Series Salebarbes aux Îles 2021-12-04
Known For
Poster of Salebarbes aux Îles
Poster of Zachary Richard, Cajun Heart
Poster of Cris sur le bayou
Poster of Le son des français d'Amérique
Filmography
Series Le Grand spectacle de la Fête nationale à Montréal Self 2025
Series Salebarbes aux Îles Self 2021-12-04
Series Star Académie Self - Guest Artist 2021-01-17
Series Tournée Générale Self 2019-01-23
Series Tout simplement country Self 2019-12-07
Series Bonsoir bonsoir! Self 2019-04-01
Series Microphone Self 2017-01-05
Series Y'a du monde à messe Self 2017-05-12
Movie Cris sur le bayou Himself 2016-02-23
Movie Zachary Richard, Cajun Heart Self 2016-08-14
Series Ça finit bien la semaine Self 2010-09-24
Series En direct de l'univers Self 2009-09-19
Movie Céline sur les Plaines Self - Performer 2008-11-11
Series Cabine C Self 2007-10-09
Series Belle et Bum Self 2003-09-20
Series La fureur Self - Musical Guest 1998-06-25
Series Le Grand spectacle de la Fête nationale dans la Capitale Self 1998-06-23
Series Numéro un Self 1975-04-05
Movie Le son des français d'Amérique 1974-11-01