Jo-El Sonnier grew up in a family of poor, French-speaking sharecroppers and began playing the accordion at the age of three. Singing only in French, he made his radio debut at six and recorded for the first time at eleven. A favorite in local clubs, Sonnier eventually tried his luck in country music and, in 1974, signed a recording contract with Mercury Records.

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Commercial success, however, proved elusive. After four years in Nashville, he moved to California, performing solo shows with friends such as guitarist Albert Lee and The Band’s Garth Hudson. By the mid-1980s, Sonnier had earned a Grammy nomination for Cajun Life. The album’s recognition allowed him to fuse his deep Cajun roots with country, rock, and pop influences. In 1987, a new recording contract with RCA Records produced Come On Joe and several Top 10 hits, including “Tear-Stained Letter” and “No More One More Time.”

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Sonnier also became a respected Nashville session player; his accordion work appears on recordings by Alan Jackson, Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Sammy Kershaw, and Hank Williams Jr. In addition to accordion, he plays bass guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, and harmonica. As a songwriter, his compositions have been recorded by Johnny Cash, George Strait, and Jerry Lee Lewis. In 2015, Sonnier won his first Grammy for The Legacy, named Best Regional Roots Music Album of the Year.

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He also pursued film acting, appearing in Mask and A Thing Called Love. With three Grammy nominations for his French-language recordings, Sonnier remained active throughout his life, sharing traditional Cajun music with audiences worldwide. He was inducted into the Museum of the Gulf Coast, Music Hall of Fame in 2002.