Johnette Downing & Scott Billington Irma Thomas Biography review and information. University Press of Mississippi will publish the biography of Irma Thomas Biography Soul Queen of New Orleans by written by Johnette Downing & Scott Billington with Irma Thomas, November 14, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.
Johnette Downing & Scott Billington Irma Thomas Biography reviews and information
Whenever a review of Irma Thomas, Soul Queen of New Orleans, the book written by Johnette Downing and Scott Billington, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.
- “A must-read for rhythm-and-blues and soul music aficionados.” (Ingrid Jensen, Counrty Roads)
- “Downing and Billington understand great storytelling. And they have delivered Thomas’s voice in ways that bring additional meaning to her discography, surprising even her deepest fans. . . . Her feelings are there in the songs. And in these pages.” (Gwen Thompkins, executive producer and host of Music Inside Out)
Irma Thomas
Soul Queen of New Orleans
- Author: Johnette Downing, Scott Billington (United States)
- With: Irma Thomas
- Book type: Biography, Soul Music Book
- Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
- Series: American Made Music Series
- To be released: November 14, 2026
- Length: 294 pages (70 illustrations)
- Format: paperback / ebook
- Prize: $ 25.00
- Buying Options >
Blurb of the Biography of Irma Thomas the American Soul Singer
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, her early years were spent shuttling between New Orleans and rural Greensburg. She showed early promise as an entertainer and singer, but her education was cut short when she became pregnant at the age of fourteen. By the time she was twenty, she had four children. She began recording while in her late teens, scoring a hit with the risqué “Don’t Mess with My Man,” and subsequently working with producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint. Her biggest hits were recorded in Los Angeles, where she briefly moved in the early 1970s. Upon returning to New Orleans, she was caught in the wave of the discovery of New Orleans rhythm and blues by the world at large, and became a fixture at the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Scott Billington, who was Thomas’s producer for over twenty years including when she won her Grammy, and Johnette Downing combine diligent research with an insider’s connection to Thomas’s story. The authors illuminate both the person and the broader world of New Orleans music as it evolved along with this treasured music legend.
Johnette Downing is a New Orleans multi-award-winning singer, musician, composer, author, illustrator, and poet. She is 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.
