Recognized as the unrivaled "Soul Queen of New Orleans," singer Irma Thomas ranks among Crescent City R&B's greatest and most enduring musical ambassadors. While she never enjoyed the coast-to-coast commercial success of contemporaries like Aretha Franklin and Etta James, thanks to a string of 1960s classics that included "Time is On My Side" and "Ruler of My Heart," Thomas nevertheless breathes the same rarified air in the minds of many soul music aficionados. Thanks to her journeyman work ethic and albums like 1978's Soul Queen of New Orleans, 1986's The New Rules, 1997's Th...