Irma Thomas
Soul Queen of New Orleans
$68.39
- Paperback
288 pages
- Release Date
16 November 2026
Summary
Irma Thomas is a beloved New Orleans icon with a career that now spans sixty years. Her self-penned “Wish Someone Would Care” was a national hit in 1964, though she did not win her first Grammy until 2007 for her post-Hurricane Katrina album, After the Rain. A contemporary of artists like Aretha Franklin and Etta James, she followed a different path to fame and acclaim.
The course of Irma Thomas’s music career at first seems improbable. Born Irma Lee in Ponchatoula, Louisiana…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781496865045 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1496865049 |
| Author: | Johnette Downing, Scott Billington, Irma Thomas, Gwen Thompkins |
| Publisher: | University Press of Mississippi |
| Imprint: | University Press of Mississippi |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 288 |
| Release Date: | 16 November 2026 |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
| Series: | American Made Music Series |
Johnette Downing
Johnette Downing is a New Orleans multi-award-winning singer, musician, composer, author, illustrator, and poet. She is the author of thirty books, primarily for children. She has presented her Louisiana roots music concerts for children, as well as author visits, keynotes, and educator workshops on five continents. She is the recipient of the 2017 Louisiana Writer Award.
Scott Billington is a three-time Grammy-winning roots music producer who has worked with such artists as Irma Thomas, Charlie Rich, and Bobby Rush. For many decades, he balanced his roles as producer, art director, musician, and A&R executive at the highly regarded Rounder Records label, where he was responsible for hundreds of recordings. A former Recording Academy Trustee, he lives in New Orleans, where he previously taught music production at Loyola University. He often performs with his wife, the children’s musician Johnette Downing. He is also the author of Making Tracks: A Record Producer’s Southern Roots Music Journey, published by University Press of Mississippi.
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