Chronicle: Singer/songwriter Jo-El Sonnier suffered a cardiac arrest following a concert in Llano, TX and passed Jan. 13. He was 77. The Louisiana native's music was heavily influenced by his Cajun upbringing. Sonnier signed to RCA and charted six singles between 1987 and 1990, including his signature cover of "Tear-Stained Letter." He was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2009 and, after four nominations, won his first Grammy in 2015 for Regional Roots Music Album of the Year. No word on services.

Veteran broadcaster Marshall Magee has passed. He was 77. Magee spent most of his career in Mississippi, first as "Lee Marshall" on Top 40 stations in Hattiesburg and Jackson in the 1970s. In 1981, as GM of then Album Rock WZZQ/Jackson, MS, Magee oversaw the station's flip to Country WMSI. He later served as an executive with Marcom Media, Arrow Communications, SunGroup and CSB Communications before moving into management consulting in 2008. No word on services.

Veteran personality/programmer Tony "Jay Michaels" Ardovino passed Jan. 15 after a seven-year battle with cancer. He was 73. Ardovino programmed Top 40s WAPI and WSGN in Birmingham before joining crosstown WZZK in 1983, where he spent a total of 34 years, most of which was in afternoon drive. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society here. A celebration of life will be held Tuesday, Jan. 30 from 4pm-7pm at Southern Heritage Funeral Home, 475 Cahaba Valley Road, Pelham, AL 35124. Station tribute here; full obituary here.