Irma Thomas
- Music Nola
- Jul 18
- 2 min read
There may be no artist who embodies the joie de vivre of New Orleans more than Irma Thomas, known as the Soul Queen of New Orleans. Thomas moved to the city in the late 1950s and has been a staple at festivals and in her own New Orleans clubs for more than half a century.
“I’m just Irma,” she said in 2025. “I love what I do; it’s a gift I’m blessed with to bring joy to others. I’m 84 years old and I plan on bringing joy through music for as long as I can.”
It’s often said that New Orleans has something for everyone, whether it’s food, museums, architecture, art, or most especially in the music. There’s no shortage of variety in the music to be found in the city – both for the locals and for visitors – as Thomas says, you’re not a tourist in New Orleans, you’re a guest.
“We have great hospitality here in Nola,” she said. “We embrace our visitors, I don’t even call them tourists, they’re our guests. They have the choice of things to see and enjoy – we have an amazing aquarium; we have the zoo; we have golf courses; we have great bowling alleys, for people like myself who love bowling; and most importantly, we have music, something for everyone. Just ask your concierge what you want to see, you can find it here in the city.”
Thomas has played venues all over the world, but she maintains that there’s no place like home.
“When you say home, that says a lot,” she said. “When I was growing up here, there was always music around somewhere, always music, celebration of somebody passing, celebration of somebody’s birthday, celebrating a marriage, there’s always music. And that’s still true. That’s a very important part of this city that brings joy.”
Thomas earned her first professional gig in 1959 while working as a waitress in New Orleans and she’s still going strong today. She has been nominated for multiple GRAMMY Awards and earned her first GRAMMY with a Best Contemporary Blues Album for 2007’s After the Rain. The album was a response to Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed Thomas’ long-running nightclub. She has been recognized multiple times as the top “Soul Blues Female Artist” by the Blues Music Awards and received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance at the Americana Music Awards in 2018.
In May of 2025, she appeared onstage with the Rolling Stones at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival where she joined Mick Jagger for a duet of “Time Is On My Side,” which the Stones released months after her version.
Comments