From the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Fest, Irma Thomas performs her first single.

Born Irma Lee, as a teen she sang with a Baptist church choir, auditioning for Specialty Records as a 13-year old. By the age of 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 bandleader Tommy Ridgley, who helped her land a record deal with the local Ron label. Her first single, “(You Can Have My Husband but) Don’t Mess with My Man,” was released in spring 1960, and reached number 22 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Irma Thomas, known as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans,” is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but never experienced their level of commercial success. She won the Grammy Award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Blues Album for “After the Rain” it was her first in a career spanning over 50 years.

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