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EMERY WAYNE TOUPS...born October 2, 1958...
Raised in South Louisiana, at age 13
he learned to play the diatonic accordion from his brother
and before long was performing with some of the
area's most popular cajun bands.
His father (holding Wayne on his shoulders)
affectionately known as Cowboy
and his mother, Vivian were always his biggest fans...
He released his first album entitled
"CAJUN PARADISE"" WAYNE TOUPS and the Crowley Aces
in Europe in the late 70s
He began gaining popularity in Louisiana in the mid
80s and quickly became a favorite at festivals
throughout the state
In 1986 he released his second album; A mixture of zydeco, cajun and southern rock, creating a new musical genre he coined "ZYDECAJUN"
His 1988 breakout LP "JOHNNIE CAN'T DANCE" took his popularity to a much broader audience. With appearances in South & Central America, Canada and all along the Gulf Coast, TOUPS, or "Le Boss" as he became known, gave long, barn-burner shows and set his sights on taking "ZYDECAJUN" to the rest of the world!
1988 USIA Tour of South America
In January 1989 he released his first major label recording on
"BLAST FROM THE BAYOU" spent 4 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 Albums
and the band toured tirelessly for almost the entire year...
In February of 1989, Wayne made his MTV debut in New Orleans
for a LIVE MARDI GRAS BROADCAST
Summer of 1989 he was the opening act on Carole King’s “CITY STREETS TOUR"
“FISH OUT OF WATER” was released in 1991
and the band continued playing dates across the US as well as their second USIA tour, this time to Southeast Asia...
His 1995 release "BACK TO THE BAYOU"
became the fastest selling record ever
for the Louisiana based indie label
SWALLOW RECORDS
selling almost 100,000 copies...
3 of the songs from that project, including the wedding favorite "TAKE MY HAND", were featured in the indie movie DIRTY RICE...
As of September 2023
"TAKE MY HAND"
has had over 2 millions streams on SPOTIFY
In 2003, Wayne was inducted into
THE LOUISIANA BLUES HALL OF FAME
In 2010, Wayne was inducted into
THE LOUISIANA MUSIC HALL OF FAME
In 2011, Wayne was inducted into
THE CAJUN FRENCH MUSIC ASSOCIATION
HALL OF FAME
On February 10, 2013, at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards
WAYNE was awarded a Grammy for
BEST REGIONAL ROOTS MUSIC ALBUM.
Entitled "The Band Courtbouillon"
its members also include Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy
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