New Orleans' very own Soul Queen, a title bestowed on the Big Easy resident by the town itself, started singing in a Baptist church choir as a teenager and auditioned for Speciality Records when she was 13 years old. By the time she was 20, Thomas had 4 kids and was twice divorced. Fiery romance and heartache infuse her soulful renditions, starting with her 1960 debut single You Can Have My Husband (But Don't Mess With My Man), which reached number 22 on the Billboard R&B chart. In 2007, Thomas won her first Grammy. The following year, she released Simply Grand. Indeed.