Ian Campbell Thomas (born 23 July 1950) is a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

winning Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and author. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dave Thomas. He was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, Canada.

Early life

Thomas was born to Moreen Duff Muir (May 4, 1928 - May 18, 2022), a church organist for thirty years originally from

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and composer of church music, and John E. Thomas (1926–1996), a medical ethicist from

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

who was head of the Philosophy Department at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

, and the author of several books. The family moved temporarily to

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, where Thomas' father attended

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and earned a PhD in philosophy. The family moved back to

Dundas, Ontario Dundas () is a community and urban district in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is nicknamed ''Valley Town'' because of its topographical location at the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment on the we ...

, in 1961.

Career

Thomas is a successful

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

musician in Canada. His solo career peaked during the 1970s; his most memorable hit was 1973's " Painted Ladies". Success in the American market, however, has proven to be elusive with the possible exception of "Painted Ladies", which remains his only U.S. Top 40 hit. He has also done musical composition for about a dozen films and television shows. Before breaking through with "Painted Ladies", he was a producer at the CBC. Before that, he was part of the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

group Tranquility Base (sometimes spelled Tranquillity Base). In 1974, he won a

for "Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year". That year he toured in eastern Canada with

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn until his death in 2023. April Wine first experienced success with their second album, ' ...

. In 1976 he signed with

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

. In 1981, Thomas made a cameo appearance on '' SCTV'' with his real-life older brother Dave Thomas during a sketch of " The Great White North". He played himself and performed the songs, "Pilot" and " Hold On". He also wrote and recorded the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for his brother's film '' Strange Brew''. As well, Thomas was a musical guest on the CTV children's show '' Whatever Turns You On'' (a short-lived spinoff of ''

You Can't Do That on Television ''You Can't Do That on Television'' is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured adolescent and teenage actors performing in a sketch comedy format similar to A ...

'') in 1979. Many of his songs have been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by popular artists, including "Hold On" (

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

, 1982), "Chains" (

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 1982), "The Runner" (

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

, 1984), and "

Right Before Your Eyes "Right Before Your Eyes" (popularly known as "Rudolph Valentino") is a song written by Canadian singer and songwriter Ian Thomas, and introduced on the 1977 Ian Thomas Band album ''Calabash''. His version reached #57 in Canada. It was also record ...

" (

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 1983). In 1988,

Daryl Braithwaite Daryl Braithwaite (born 11 January 1949) is an Australian singer. He was the lead vocalist of Sherbet (1970–1984 and many subsequent reunions). Braithwaite also has a solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including ...

had hits in Australia with two Thomas compositions: " As the Days Go By" (which peaked at #10), and " All I Do" (a #12 chart hit).

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

also covered his song "To Comfort You" on her '' Bette of Roses'' album. He is also known for the portrayal of the character "Dougie Franklin" on the Canadian comedy series '' The Red Green Show''. From 1991 through 2002, Thomas released four albums with The Boomers. 2004-Journey to Joke A Lot 2005-Big Wish In 2009, Thomas provided the music for the animated series '' Bob & Doug'', based on the SCTV characters of the same name. He has written two books, ''Bequest'' (2006), Canadian Best Seller, and ''The Lost Chord'' (2008), both through Manor House Publishing. In 2010, Wounded Bird Records re-issued "Still Here" on CD. On 16 June 2014, Thomas was awarded the National Achievement Award by SOCAN at the 2014 SOCAN Awards in Toronto. In 2015, he performed with Darcy Hepner and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and recorded with them for a CD. During the summer of 2016, Thomas was touring Ontario, Canada, with singers

Murray McLauchlan Murray Edward McLauchlan, (born 30 June 1948) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player. He is best known for his Canadian hits "The Farmer's Song," "Whispering Rain," and "Down by the Henry Moore". Early life ...

, Cindy Church, and

Marc Jordan Marc Wallace Jordan (born March 6, 1948) is an American-born Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician, and actor. Covering a wide variety of genres, he has written songs for a number of well-known artists, including Diana Ro ...

, in the group Lunch At Allen's. The tour was continuing in late 2018 with a series of dates in Ontario. Thomas is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.

Personal life

His son Jake Thomas, a director of adventure sports documentaries, was injured in a snowmobiling accident in 2017.

Discography

Singles

With Tranquility Base (1970–71)

Ian Thomas solo career (1973–2016)

With The Boomers (1991–2002)

With Lunch at Allen's (2004–present)

Solo albums

* 1973 - ''Ian Thomas''; #30 CAN (10 weeks in Top 100) * 1974 - ''Long Long Way'' * 1975 - ''Delights'' * 1976 - ''Calabash'' (aka ''Goodnight Mrs. Calabash'') (as Ian Thomas Band); #62 CAN (20 weeks in Top 100) * 1978 - ''Still Here'' (as Ian Thomas Band); #60 CAN (10 weeks in Top 100) * 1979 - ''Glider'' (as Ian Thomas Band); #77 CAN (8 weeks in Top 100) * 1980 - ''The Best of Ian Thomas'' * 1981 - ''The Runner'' * 1984 - ''Riders on Dark Horses''; #91 CAN (6 weeks in Top 100) * 1985 - ''Add Water'' * 1988 - ''Levity''; #74 CAN (6 weeks in Top 100) * 1993 - ''Looking Back'' * 2012 - ''Little Dreams'' * 2016 - ''A Life in Song'' * 2024 - ''How We Roll''

Albums with The Boomers

* 1991 - ''What We Do'' * 1993 - ''Art of Living'' * 1996 - ''25 Thousand Days'' * 2002 - ''Midway''

Albums with Lunch at Allen's

* 2004 - ''Lunch at Allen's'' * 2007 - ''Catch the Moon'' * 2010 - ''More Lunch at Allen's'' * 2012 - ''Zuzu's Petals'' * 2017 - ''If It Feels Right''

Comedy Album with the Air Pirates

* 1990 - ''Volume Two''

References

External links

Official WebsiteCanConRox entry
* * * * as 'Tranquillity Base'
Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.caLunch At Allen's
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Ian 1950 births Living people Canadian rock singers Canadian male singer-songwriters 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winners Anthem Records artists Canadian people of Welsh descent Chrysalis Records artists Atlantic Records artists 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters