Eddie Blazonczyk

Blazonczyk died of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome on May 21, 2012.

Blazonczyk retired from performing in 2002. At that time, he turned over responsibility for his band, The Versatones, to his son, Eddie Blazonczyk Jr. The Versatones played their last performance on New Year's Eve, 2011.

Blazonczyk was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, and his album Another Polka Celebration won the 1986 Grammy for Best Polka Recording. He was a recipient of the 1998 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States.

Before becoming a polka artist, and founding Chicago-based Bel-Aire Records in 1963, Eddie Blazonczyk recorded under the name Eddy Bell for Mercury Records, Versa Records, and Lucky Four Records, all three labels based in Chicago. During this period Blazonczyk toured with Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent and Brenda Lee. The records he made for these labels were rockabilly sides, and novelty songs. "The Great Great Pumpkin", released on Lucky Four #1012, is probably the most noteworthy of these recordings. This recording is still occasionally heard around Halloween and is highly sought by record collectors. Lenny LaCour, the owner of Lucky Four Records, encouraged Blazonczyk, at the age of 22, to specialize in polka music, rather than to continue as a rockabilly singer. Blazonczyk has said, "I took his advice, and never regretted it."

Eddie Blazonczyk, Sr. (July 12, 1941 – May 21, 2012) was a Grammy award-winning polka musician and founder of the band The Versatones. He was inducted into the International Polka Hall of Fame in 1970, and was a 1998 National Heritage Fellowship recipient. He has been called "one of the most important figures in the creation of the contemporary Polish-American polka sound." He released more than 60 albums.