Rosie Ledet (born Mary Roszela Bellard; October 25, 1971) is an American CreoleZydecoaccordion player and singer.[2][3][4][5] Since circa 2020, she also performs under the name Rosie Bellard.[6]
Her songs are known for their sultry and suggestive lyrics. She tours and records with her band, the Zydeco Playboys.[1]
Biography
Born in Church Point, Louisiana,[7] Ledet listened to rock music in her youth. Although she was in an environment where zydeco was heard, she took little interest in the music at the time. She first became fascinated with zydeco music when she was 16 years old. She attended a zydeco dance at Richard's Club, a famous zydeco club in Lawtell, Louisiana, and saw Boozoo Chavis play, which inspired her to start learning to play zydeco. At this dance, she also met Morris Ledet, her husband-to-be.[7]
She learned the accordion watching Morris play. When he heard her, he stepped aside allowing her the spotlight, and became her accompanist on the bass guitar.[7] Morris then brought Rosie to his producer, Mike Lachney, a veteran zydeco producer. Lachney was so impressed that he quickly set up a recording session. Lachney then took Ledet to Floyd Soileau, of the Maison de Soul label. Soileau also was impressed and gave Lachney a contract to produce five albums with Ledet. She started playing around Louisiana and Texas in 1994. The same year, she released her debut album Sweet Brown Sugar on the Maison de Soul label.