At the age of 13, Wayne Toups began entertaining audiences in venues across Southwest Louisiana. By the mid-1970s, his first album, Wayne Toups and the Crowley Aces, had already been released in Europe. With a new band in 1987, Toups introduced and popularized “Zydecajun,” a fusion of Black zydeco and traditional Cajun music.

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Toups performs regularly throughout the United States and has appeared in more than 26 countries. He also performed at the 1990 Super Bowl. The Cajun French Music Association awarded him its 1991 Song of the Year for “Late in Life.” Three of his songs—including the wedding favorite “Take My Hand”—were featured in the film Dirty Rice, and his work has also appeared in Steel Magnolias and the television series Broken Badges. His 1995 album Back to the Bayou climbed the charts to become the fastest-selling record in the history of Swallow Records, a prominent South Louisiana label.

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A master of the diatonic accordion, Toups’ musicianship has been featured on recordings by Mark Chesnutt, Alan Jackson, Sammy Kershaw, and Thomas Dolby. In addition to his own albums, Toups has written songs for numerous other performers. He is regarded as one of the most commercially successful Cajun artists working today.

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Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards and honors, including a dedication at the 2010 Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, OffBeat Magazine’s Album of the Year, and inductions into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, the Museum of the Gulf Coast Hall of Fame, and the Cajun French Music Hall of Fame. In 2012, he received a Grammy Award at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Regional Roots Music Album as part of The Band Courtbouillon.