The New Orleans Jazz Museum will host a special celebration on June 25 in honor of what would have been Clifton Chenier’s 100th birthday. Known as the “King of Zydeco,” Chenier’s enduring influence will be recognized with the release of a new tribute album featuring The Rolling Stones, Lucinda Williams, Taj Mahal, and other major artists, all paired with leading Zydeco musicians from South Louisiana.

The event is presented by the Clifton Chenier Memorial Scholarship Fund in collaboration with Smithsonian Folkways, Valcour Records, the New Orleans Jazz Museum, and musician CC Adcock. The museum, home to Chenier’s iconic crown and accordion, will also mark the occasion with the release of a special 7″ single from Smithsonian Folkways.

Long before he became the King, Clifton Chenier was a young man working as a sharecropper and manual laborer at a Texas refinery, determined to make it in the music industry and swiftly gaining fame on the local circuit. One day, the story goes, he refused to climb into a pit on the job. He was fired, only to return two days later in a white suit, driving a Cadillac, and holding his first record contract.

The celebration takes place at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, 400 Esplanade Ave, on June 25, which would have been Chenier’s birthday. Tickets start at $25 and are available here.