Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas was born on February 18, 1941 in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. She is popularly known as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans” because she came from the New Orleans area. Her music career began as a teenager singing for Baptist churches, and she started working on her musical career in 1960. Over the years, Thomas has recorded her music with different record labels including Minit Records, Imperial Records, Chess Records, and Rounder Records.

Although Thomas never experienced as much success as Aretha Franklin, her sounds are compared to hers.  In 2007, Thomas won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for her album After the Rain. Thomas was also nominated several times for the Grammy Award. For example, in 1991, her song  “Live! Simply the Best” got her a nomination. She also released other traditional songs and an album titled Sing It! (1998), which got her a nominated for a Grammy in 1999.