Renowned swamp blues vocalist, pianist, and songwriter Carol Fran, best known for a string of single releases in the 1950s and ’60s, died on September 1 in Lafayette from post-COVID complications. She was 87.

Fran was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2013. A biography at the time of the award included this description of Fran’s career:

“Carol Fran’s distinct voice and piano-playing style mark her celebrated career that spans more than six decades. Featuring artists associated with the Excello record label, the swamp blues genre is characterized by slow laid back vocals combined with Cajun and Zydeco rhythmic elements.

“She performs in both English and the native Creole French language that her parents and grandparents taught her in the bayous of Lafayette, Louisiana, where she was born in 1933 into a family of seven children. At the age of 15, Fran left home to join the tour of Joe Lutcher, the Louisiana jump blues saxophonist, and his band, the Society Cats. She also toured with Jimmy Reed, Lee Dorsey, Joe Tex, and Ray Charles. Fran eventually made her way in New Orleans where she married saxophonist Bob Francois. Abbreviating her married name to “Fran,” she became one of the Bourbon Street club circuit’s continuous vocal authorities. In 1957, Fran had recorded her first hit single, ‘Emmitt Lee,’ for the legendary Excello Records, and in 1958 she toured with blues legend Guitar Slim. During the 1960s, she recorded extensively until she decided to limit her career to singing on the Gulf Coast nightclub circuit.

“In the early 1980s, Fran reconnected with and married blues guitarist Clarence Hollimon and relocated to Texas. The duo formed the Hollimon Express and toured extensively in the United States and Europe, releasing three albums, Soul Sensation (1992), See There! (1994), and lt’s About Time (2000). They also taught the blues to students as artists-in-residence through programs of Texas Folklife Resources. Following Hollimon’s death, Fran returned to Louisiana and released a solo album, Fran-tastic, in 2001. In 2007, Fran suffered a stroke but just seven months later, she was back on stage at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in a performance USA Today described as ‘potent and poignant.'”