Ronnie Barron
American musician (1943-1997)
Ronnie Barron (born Ronald Raymond Barrosse, October 9, 1943, in Algiers, New Orleans – March 20, 1997) was an American actor, musician, and blue-eyed soul singer during the 1970s. He was known for his work as a session musician, and a sideman for several artists, as well as his collaborations with Dr. John, a fellow New Orleans native.
Musicians who employed him include Paul Butterfield, Canned Heat, Ry Cooder, Tom Waits, Eric Burdon & the Animals, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, and others.
Barron met Mac Rebennack in 1958 and performed with him at several venues around New Orleans. They were classmates at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. During that period, he created the Reverend Ether persona to satisfy audiences who were primarily interested in entertainers. Rebennack was so impressed with the gimmick that he wanted Barron to become Dr. John. Barron was hired by Sonny and Cher in 1965, and relocated to California to become a session musician, and left the Reverend Ether character behind.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ronnie Barron” is american musician (1943-1997). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ronnie, Barron and American, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7365794. VIAF identifies the subject as 19877254. The Library of Congress control number is no98052359. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1943, 1997, 1958 and 1965.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ronnie Barron” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.