New Orleans native Al Copeland struck gold in 1972 with the spicy New Orleans-style fried chicken that made Popeyes famous throughout the world.  "Popeyes,” was named after the character Popeye Doyle in the movie “The French Connection"  rather than the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor used in some promotions. The name does not contain the grammatically correct apostrophe as Copeland claimed to be "too poor to afford one." He got one later when he opened Copeland's.

His unique blend of spices (cayenne pepper) introduced Cajun heat to the national taste buds. Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers "Immaculate Reception" commercial was part of a plan that won national attention and propelled Popeyes to over 700 franchises. Acquiring Churches Fried Chicken made Popeyes the number two chicken purveyor after only KFC, but as seems all too common, led to financial downfall and Copeland was forced into bankruptcy.  Forced to sell, he managed to retain rights to his spice blend and an exclusive marketing agreement that kept him in the game. He also retained his Copeland's Restaurants and managed to stage a rebound creating more franchises including the Cheesecake Bistro. Popeyes continues to operate under the ownership of AFC Enterprises.

Always flamboyant and controversial, Copeland ran into difficulties when his neighbors complained about the Christmas lights displayed outside his home. OK, there were more than 4 million lights in his displays and traffic backed for hours every night. He ultimately moved the display to his corporate headquarters in Elmwood. Married numerous times he developed an adversarial relationship with the local newspaper. The TP and especially editorialist Chris Rose seemed to delight in airing Copeland's laundry. The marriages and especially the divorces, a restaurant fist fight and ties to disgraced judge Bodenheimer were too much to resist.

He died at age 64 in March 2008. New Orleans celebrated his life with a massive funeral. True to his own style, the funeral started fifteen minutes late to honor his wish that he be "late to his own funeral."