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A Louisiana musical legend died this week.

Ervin “Vin” Bruce died on Friday night after battling chronic myeloid leukemia. He was 86.

A household name in the south Lafourche community and in many other homes around the Southeast and beyond, Bruce was an entertainment icon in the community, enjoying a more than 50-year career which took him to some of the biggest, most famous venues around the world, including the Grand Ole Opry.

Bruce’s accolades are endless.

He learned to play Cajun music at age 10, learning to play the guitar on his own, inspired by his father, Levy Bruce, who played fiddle at local Cajun dances.

It wouldn’t be long before young Vin was a tag along with his father, also learning how to sing at a young age.

Bruce started professionally as a guitar player with the Southern Serenaders and the Hillbilly Swing Kings, but in 1951 at the age of 19, he got his first big break, inking a recording deal with Columbia Records in Nashville, Tennessee.

Under that label, Bruce recorded some of his best hits, while also working with legends like Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley and Shook Jackson, among others.

Bruce released seven albums total – his first in 1953 called ‘My mama said I’d stay single’ and his last in 2006 titled ‘Cajun Legend’.

His popularity fizzled some in America in the late 1950s as rock and roll took over the world of music, but by that time, his music had already spread to Europe and Asia. John Broven wrote in his book “South to Louisiana” that Bruce had become one of the major Cajun artists in the Post World War II Louisiana and around the world.

For his contributions to advancing Cajun music, Bruce is known as “the King of Cajun Singers” and he’s been awarded in countless half of fames around the world, including the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, the Nashville Music Hall of Fame, the Westbank Musicians Hall of Fame and the CFMA Cajun Music Hall of Fame.

In Lafourche Parish, April 25 of every year is known as ‘Vin Bruce Day’ to honor the accomplishments of the musical legend. Last year, the Lafourche Parish Council honored Bruce and Parish President Jimmy Cantrelle called him one of the most accomplished Lafourche Parish citizens of all-time.

“He’s a true legend,” Cantrelle said. “He’s so deserving of the honor.”

But while music is perhaps what Bruce is most known for, many do not realize that later in life, he also worked tirelessly to help secure Lafourche Parish’s economic prowess.

Bruce victoriously ran for election to the Greater Lafourche Port Commission’s Board of Commissioners in the late 1990s – a seat he still held at the time of his death.

Under Bruce’s watch, Port Fourchon exploded to a global energy powerhouse with several peak economic years, which have literally generated billions of dollars.

When running for his last term, Bruce said he wanted to see completion of a project to elevate La. Highway 1 as far north as money would allow.