The story behind the King
King Edward was born Edward Memphis Antoine in 1937 in a Cajun speaking family in Rayne, Louisiana. Yes, you can ask him to speak French, and he will love doing so! He taught himself to play the guitar and learned zydeco from his famous cousin, Clifton Chenier.
King Edward later moved to Portland, Oregon, and then Chicago, where he played with the greats for 15 years – Magic Slim, Magic Sam, Earl Hooker, Hound Dog Taylor, Junior Wells, Tyrone Davis, Buddy Guy, Otis Clay, McKinley Mitchell, the Scott brothers. He also opened for The Temptations and Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland…
Blue Monday Band - The Thrill is Gone
King Edward moved back to the South in 1975, more precisely to Jackson, Mississippi, where he still lives today. He has become a legend in the State, playing festivals and venues all over, and further away too: Shreveport, St. Louis, Missouri, Davenport, Iowa, and twice at the Chicago Blues Festival.
He received a Peavey Award for his contribution to Mississippi music and is honored on three blues markers on the Mississippi Blues Trail, all three of them in Jackson: Subway Lounge, Queen of Hearts and Ace Records. He performed at those clubs every week for years, one of the reasons why he is featured in Robert Mugge’s documentary Last of the Mississippi Jukes. He also appears on the 2010 Mississippi Celebrates Its Grammy Legacy, along with Bobby Rush, Eddie Cotton, and Zac Harmon.
King Edward participated in the 2012 Blessissippi concert hosted by Morgan Freeman at Ground Zero, in Clarksdale, and performed at B.B. King’s last homecoming. Backstage, he got a chance to tell the King of the Blues that he first saw him perform at his cousin’s club in Louisiana back in 1957!
In 2014 King Edward released 50 Years Of Blues, his first studio CD in 15 years including several originals written for this project.
Jammin' at Pinetop Perkins Homecoming -
Hopson Plantation