Born in the Gert Town neighborhood of New Orleans in 1938, Allen Toussaint showed extraordinary musical gifts from childhood, teaching himself to play piano by ear and absorbing the city's rich tradition of boogie-woogie, jazz, and R&B. By his teens he was already playing professionally, and by his early twenties he had become a central figure at Minit Records.
As a staff writer and producer at Minit and later at his own Sansu Enterprises, Toussaint shaped the sound of New Orleans R&B in the 1960s and beyond. He wrote and produced hits for Ernie K-Doe, Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, and dozens of others, creating a body of work that defined a generation of New Orleans music.
His compositions crossed over into rock and pop with remarkable ease: 'Working in a Coal Mine,' 'Ride Your Pony,' 'Yes We Can Can,' and 'Southern Nights' were all covered by major artists. Paul McCartney, The Band, Glen Campbell, and countless others recorded his songs. As a solo artist, his 1975 album Southern Nights remains a masterpiece.
After Hurricane Katrina, Toussaint relocated briefly to New York before returning to his beloved New Orleans. He collaborated with Elvis Costello on the acclaimed album The River in Reverse (2006), a meditation on Katrina and resilience. He died in 2015 while on tour in Madrid, leaving behind one of the most extraordinary legacies in American popular music.
