Louisiana music legend Jo-El Sonnier, buried Saturday in Sulphur, Louisiana, left behind a rich musical in Cajun and country music – and a final note many musicians might envy: He passed just after his last standing ovation and encore.

Sonnier, an accordion player and songwriter, scored Top 10 country hits in the late ‘80s with “No More One More Time” and a cover of “Tear-Stained Letter.” A member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, he also was a Grammy winner, having been honored for best regional roots music album for “The Legacy” in 2015. According to Grammy.com, he was nominated four other times.

Sonnier, 77, was touring in Texas when a Jan. 13 show at the Llano Country Opry near Austin became his last. A Houston Chronicle report cited the account of Tracy Pitcox, a promoter who helped put the show together and who was in attendance.

“Jo-El Sonnier had just completed an incredible show at the Llano Country Opry in Llano, Texas,” Pitcox said in a Facebook post. “He had entertained over an hour and ended with his signature ‘Tear Stained Letter’. He received a standing ovation and I asked him to do ‘Jambalaya’ as an encore. He performed a rousing rendition of that classic. Jo-El mentioned that he needed to rest for just a few minutes before signing autographs. Unfortunately, he suffered cardiac arrest and was air flighted to Austin where he was pronounced deceased. It is never easy to lose a legend, but he truly spent his final day doing what he loved — entertaining his fans with his loving wife Bobbye by his side.”

According to many accounts, Sonnier began playing the accordion at age 3. According to some, music became a therapeutic way of dealing with autism.

Sonnier addressed the issue in “The Little Boy Under the Wagon: Bayou Boy to Living Legend,” a 2017 children’s book written by Sonnier’s sister-in-law, Shirley Strange-Allen. The book describes some of the challenges he encountered due to Asperger’s syndrome. Sonnier said there was a message in it for young readers.

“There’s a way of being different and still being normal,” he said in a 2017 interview. “Now we have something to take to new generations that might not understand. They need to know it’s OK to be different.”

In his obituary, his family asked that fans donate to www.autismspeaks.org in his honor.