Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr., renowned zydeco accordionist, dies

NEW ORLEANS — Musician Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr., who rose from a cotton-picking family in southwest Louisiana to introduce zydeco music to the world through his namesake band Buckwheat Zydeco, has died.

Fox said the musician and accordionist died at 1:32 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, La.

A completely natural musician who could just fit in in any scenario, Fox said.

Zydeco music was well known across southwest Louisiana, where people would often drive for miles to small dance halls where zydeco bands featuring an accordion and a washboard would rock the crowds for hours.

[...] Mr. Dural took zydeco music mainstream, launching a major-label album — the Grammy-nominated “On a Night Like This” — with Island Records in 1987.

Mr. Dural earned his nickname because he had braided hair when he was younger that resembled Buckwheat from the Little Rascals.