Irma Thomas born February 18, 1941, is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans”
Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but she never experienced their level of commercial success.
In 2007, she won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for After the Rain, her first Grammy in a career spanning over 50 years.
Is Carla Thomas related to Irma Thomas?
The New Orleans R&B; singer, who first gained national attention in the ’60s, isn’t the daughter of Southern R&B; hitmaker Rufus Thomas, and therefore not the sister of his daughter, singer Carla Thomas.
Thomas received her first Grammy nomination in 1991. She received her second Grammy nomination in 1998 along with Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson. She has continued to maintain an active recording and touring schedule since.
In 2018, Thomas received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance at the Americana Music Honors & Awards