John Fred

John Fred Gourrier was born on May 8, 1941 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of John Fred Gourrier Sr. and Miriam Chaisson. He had two sisters, Ann Gourrier Kleinpeter and Kay Gourrier Begue; and one son, Kevin Morris Gourrier.{{cite book ==Career==

In 1956, at the age of fifteen, Gourrier formed the rhythm and blues band John Fred and the Playboys. Their first charting single was "Shirley", which featured instrumentation by Fats Domino's backing band. The track peaked at #82 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1959, leading to the Playboys appearing on Alan Freed's television show The Big Beat. However, Fred later turned down an invitation from Dick Clark to perform on American Bandstand due to his commitment to a high school basketball game. After a series of non-charting followup singles on the Montel label, the band split in 1961 when Fred attended college, where he lettered in basketball and baseball at Louisiana State University and Southeastern Louisiana University, winning two Gulf State Conference baseball championships with the latter in 1962 and 1963. whose name is a parodic play on the title of The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". The song, issued by Louisiana-based Jewel Records on the Paula label, became successful, knocking "Hello, Goodbye", another Beatles song, out of the No. 1 chart position on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in January 1968. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. With the success of the single, John Fred & His Playboy Band was branded as a novelty act and never had another major success. The follow-up single, "Hey, Hey, Bunny", peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard chart, and the band never again hit the Hot 100. Only after years of struggles did Fred obtain full legal rights to "Judy in Disguise" and its royalties. ==Later life and death==

Gourrier continued to perform in bands, coached high school basketball and baseball, and remained a fixture at concerts and shows in his hometown. He produced records for other artists, including Irma Thomas and Fats Domino, and hosted a local radio show, ''The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll, on WBRH in Baton Rouge. He released several solo albums and one group effort, Louisiana Boys'', with Joe Stampley and G. G. Shinn. He also wrote and produced radio commercials and jingles, earning two Clio Awards. Gourrier received a kidney transplant in 2004, but complications thereafter resulted in repeated stays at Tulane Hospital in New Orleans. He died on April 15, 2005 at age 63, survived by his wife Sandra, son Kevin, daughter-in-law Jodi, and grandson Jon Sterling Gourrier. ==Awards==

in 1999, Gourrier received the Louisiana Hall of Fame Living Legend Award, and in 2007 was the first artist inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Later, he was appointed to serve on the Louisiana Music Commission. ==Discography==

Studio albums Compilation albums Singles ;Discography notes ==References==