Irma Thomas
Thomas in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Irma Lee
Also known as	Soul Queen of New Orleans
Born	(1941-02-18)February 18, 1941 (age 84) Ponchatoula, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres	New Orleans R&B soul blues gospel pop
Occupations	Singer songwriter
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	1959–present
Labels	Minit Imperial Chess Rounder Maison de Soul

Irma Thomas (néeLee; born February 18, 1941)^[1][2] is an American singer fromNew Orleans.^[3] She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans".^[2]

Thomas is a contemporary ofAretha Franklin andEtta James, but never experienced their level of commercial success.^[2] In 2007, she won theGrammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album forAfter the Rain, her first Grammy in a career spanning over 50 years.^[4]

Born Irma Lee, inPonchatoula, Louisiana, United States,^[5] she was the daughter of Percy Lee, a steel chipper, and Vader Lee, who worked as a maid.^[6] As a teenager, she sang with a Baptist church choir. She auditioned forSpecialty Records at the age of 13. By the time she was 19, she had been married twice and had four children. Keeping her second ex-husband's surname, she worked as a waitress in New Orleans, occasionally singing with bandleaderTommy Ridgley, who helped her land a record deal with the localRon label. Her first single, "Don't Mess with My Man",^[5] was released in late 1959, and reached number 22 on the USBillboardR&B chart.^[2]

She then began recording on theMinit label, working with songwriter and producerAllen Toussaint on songs including "It's Raining" and "Ruler of My Heart", which was later reinterpreted byOtis Redding as "Pain in My Heart".^[5]Imperial Records acquired Minit in 1963, and a string of successful releases followed. These included "Wish Someone Would Care", her biggest national hit;^[5] its B-side "Breakaway", written by Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheely (later covered byTracey Ullman, among others).

"Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" was co-written by a youngRandy Newman and future country starJeannie Seely. This song has gained renewed appreciation as a result of its inclusion in numerous episodes of the science fiction anthology television seriesBlack Mirror, stretching back to the first season.^[7] On its B-side is "Time Is on My Side",^[5] a song previously recorded byKai Winding and later by theRolling Stones.^[2]

Her first four Imperial singles all charted onBillboard's pop chart, but her later releases were less successful.^[2] Unlike her contemporaries Aretha Franklin,Gladys Knight andDionne Warwick, she never managed to cross over into mainstream commercial success. She recorded forChess Records in 1967–1968 with some success; her version of the Otis Redding song "Good to Me" reached the R&B chart.^[5][2] She then relocated to California, releasing records on various small labels, before returning to Louisiana, and in the early 1980s opened the Lion's Den Club.^[2]

Down by Law, the 1986 independent film byJim Jarmusch featured "It's Raining" in the soundtrack.^[8] The film's actorsRoberto Benigni andNicoletta Braschi, whose characters fell in love in the movie, danced to the song.

After several years' break from recording, she was signed byRounder Records, and in 1991 earned her firstGrammy Award nomination forLive! Simply the Best, recorded in San Francisco.^[9] She subsequently released a number of traditional gospel albums, together with more secular recordings. The albumSing It! (1998) was nominated for a Grammy in 1999.^[2]

Thomas was still active as a performer as of 2021, appearing annually at theNew Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (and was scheduled to appear at the iterations that were canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic).^[10][11] She reigned as Queen of theKrewe du Vieux for the 1998New Orleans Mardi Gras season.^[12] She often headlined at her own club, but it went out of business due toHurricane Katrina, which caused her to relocate toGonzales, Louisiana, 60 miles (97 km) from New Orleans.^[13] As of April 2008^[update] she was back in her home in New Orleans.^[14]

Thomas is interviewed on screen and appears in performance footage in the 2005 documentary filmMake It Funky!, which presents a history ofNew Orleans music and its influence onrhythm and blues,rock and roll,funk andjazz.^[15] In the film, she performed "Old Records" withAllen Toussaint.^[16]

In April 2007, Thomas was honored for her contributions to Louisiana music with induction into theLouisiana Music Hall of Fame.^[17] Also in 2007, Thomas accepted an invitation to participate inGoin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino where, singing withMarcia Ball, she contributed "I Just Can't Get New Orleans Off My Mind".^[18] The same year she won theGrammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album forAfter the Rain.^[4]

In August 2009, a compilation album with three new songs titledThe Soul Queen of New Orleans: 50th Anniversary Celebration was released from Rounder Records to commemorate Thomas' 50th year as a recording artist.^[19]

Thomas was the subject of the 2008New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival poster. She was chosen as the subject before the painting was chosen for the poster. ArtistDouglas Bourgeois painted the singer in 2006.^[20] In 2010, Thomas rode in the New Orleans parade "Grela". In April that year, Thomas performed at theCorner Hotel,Richmond, Victoria, Australia.

In 2011, Thomas performed twice at theByron Bay Bluesfest inByron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.^[21] On April 24, she performed on the Crossroads stage, coming on afterMavis Staples; then on April 25, she headlined the Crossroads stage, coming on afterJethro Tull andOsibisa.

In 2013, Thomas was nominated for aBlues Music Award in the "Soul Blues Female Artist" category,^[22] which she duly won.^[23] She won the same award in 2014.^[24]

In 2018, Thomas received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance at theAmericana Music Honors & Awards.^[25]

On May 2, 2024, Thomas appeared onstage withthe Rolling Stones at theNew Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival where she andMick Jagger sang a duet of her 1964 hit song "Time Is On My Side", which the Stones also recorded just months after her version was released.^[26] The song was the Stones' first Top Ten American hit, and the Jazz Fest set was the first time that Thomas and the Stones have performed together.^[27]

• Tommy Ridgley
• Eddie Bo
• Edgar Blanchard
• Bill Sinigal
• Irving Banister
• Patsy Vidalia
• Marcia Ball
• Dr. John
• Allen Toussaint
• Hugh Laurie
• Skip Easterling^[28]
• Danny White^[29]

• Etta James
• Mahalia Jackson
• Pearl Bailey
• Nancy Wilson
• Brook Benton
• John Lee Hooker
• Percy Mayfield^[30]

^[34]

^[34]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toIrma Thomas.

• Irma Thomas atAllMusic
• Irma Thomas discography atDiscogs
• Irma Thomas atIMDb

• 1941 births
• Living people
• 20th-century African-American women singers
• 20th-century American women singers
• 20th-century American singers
• American women singers
• American rhythm and blues singers
• Contemporary blues musicians
• Delgado Community College alumni
• Imperial Records artists
• Chess Records artists
• Island Records artists
• Rounder Records artists
• Minit Records artists
• Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans
• People from Ponchatoula, Louisiana
• American soul musicians
• Grammy Award winners
• Alive Naturalsound Records artists
• American blues singers
• Blues musicians from Louisiana
• Singers from Louisiana
• Musicians from New Orleans
• 21st-century African-American musicians
• 21st-century African-American women
• Maison de Soul Records artists
• Stateside Records artists
• 20th-century musicians from New Orleans
• 21st-century musicians from New Orleans

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