By the late 1980s, he had signed to RCA Records, breaking through with the Top Ten hits "No More One More Time" and a cover of Richard Thompson's "Tear-Stained Letter".

Although his chart success waned at the beginning of the 1990s, he continued recording music, releasing more than thirty albums primarily on independent labels.

[4] After being signed as Merle Haggard's opening act, Sonnier later decided to return to country music; he was signed to RCA Records in the 1980s, where his biggest successes came in the singles "No More One More Time" and a cover of British singer Richard Thompson's "Tear-Stained Letter", songs which landed in the Top 10 on the country charts.

[citation needed] Sonnier made a brief cameo appearance as a member of a dance band in the third episode of the first season of the HBO crime series True Detective, which is set in southern Louisiana.

[6][7] In 2017, Sonnier self-published a book titled The Little Boy Under the Wagon, in which he revealed that he had been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.