ZR
Photo of Zachary Richard

Zachary Richard

Actor
Born September 8, 1950 (74 years)
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.

Filmography

2021
Salebarbes aux Îles (TV Series) · as Self
2020
Sound Mix (TV Series) · as Self
2019
Tout simplement country (TV Series) · as Self
2019
Good evening, good evening! (TV Series) · as Self
2019
Tournée Générale (TV Series) · as Self
2017
Y'a du monde à messe (TV Series) · as Self
2010
Ça finit bien la semaine (TV Series) · as Self
2009
En direct de l'univers (TV Series) · as Self
2008
Céline sur les plaines · as Self - Performer
2008
2004
Tout le monde en parle (QC) (TV Series) · as Self
2003
Star Academy (TV Series) · as Self - Guest Artist (2022)
2000
L'invité (TV Series) · as Self
1993
Taratata 100% Live (TV Series) · as Self
1982
Late Night With David Letterman (TV Series) · as Self
1962
The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (TV Series) · as Self - Musical Guest

Take Plex everywhere

Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices