Funeral Services Announced For Louisiana Music Legend Jo-El Sonnier

The music world and especially the Louisiana music world was rocked last weekend when we all found out that Grammy award winner, Louisiana Music Hall Of Famer, and Cajun music legend, Jo-El Sonnier had passed away.

Sonnier passed away shortly after performing a show live in Llano, Texas. Reports are saying that after he finished his show, he suffered a massive heart attack and went into cardiac arrest. He was airlifted to a hospital in Austin, Texas where he passed away.

We found out the news around 9:00 p.m. Saturday and also spoke with Jo-El's wife Bobbye who confirmed that Jo-El had passed away. Jo-El Sonnier was born in Rayne, Louisiana on October 2, 1946. Cool side note, Jo-El Sonnier and another legendary Louisiana musician Wayne Toups share the same birthday, October 2nd.

He started playing music at six years old and started recording Cajun music at the young age of 11 years old. In the 1980s Sonnier signed a record deal in Nashville with RCA Records and released an album that contained his big country hits Tear Staind Letter, No More One More Time, and Raining In My Heart. 

We used to have Jo-El in the studio a bunch and he used to tell us stories about his career and how he became great friends and tour with country legends like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Charlie Daniels and so many more. There wasn't any legendary artist that Jo-El didn't know or had worked with.

It was always fun to pick his mind about music and the stories behind the music. His legacy is important because not only did he leave us with some great country and iconic Cajun music he recorded in his career but he was an ambassador for Louisiana and his love for the heritage, culture, and Cajun language was second to none.

In 2009, Sonnier was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, and on February 8, 2015, Sonnier won a Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album for his album The Legacy.

It was his first traditional Cajun French album in over 13 years. Jo-El explained to us that it took ten years of songwriting to make this album which paid off as he won a Grammy Award for it.

Funeral services for Jo-El Sonnier have been released and we wanted to share them with you. The funeral home is located at 107 W. Napoleon Street in Sulphur, LA 70663.

Funeral services will be at noon on Saturday, January 20, 2024, at Johnson and Robison Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 12:00 PM until 7:00 PM with a 6:00 PM rosary on Friday, January 19, 2024, at Johnson and Robison Funeral Home.

 

Visitation will resume from 10:00 AM until the time of services on Saturday at Johnson and Robison Funeral Home. A private burial will be at Mimosa Pines North.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in the honor of Jo-EL Sonnier to Autismspeaks.org.

To see the entire obituary, follow this link below.