We’ve lost a truly great Canadian legend. The Tommy Hunter Show was a mainstay on Sunday nights at our home. I can actually say he was one of the most brilliant individuals that I have ever talked to. He knew a lot. We will pay our respects to Tommy during #1’s @ 1.
Rest Easy Tommy and thanks for the memories.
Tommy Hunter (born March 20, 1937, in London, Ontario) is a legendary Canadian country music singer, guitarist, and television host known as “Canada’s Country Gentleman”. He is best remembered for The Tommy Hunter Show, which aired for 27 years on CBC Television, becoming one of the longest-running music shows in North America. Hunter discovered his passion for country music at age nine after seeing Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys, eventually pestering his father to rent him a guitar and pay for lessons. By his early teens, he was performing locally at church gatherings, legions, and community events. He made his radio debut at age 15, and in 1956, he joined CBC-TV’s Country Hoedown as a rhythm guitarist. By 1965, The Tommy Hunter Show was launched on CBC. The show ran on Friday nights until 1992 and was also syndicated in the United States on The Nashville Network (TNN). The iconic program served as a major launching pad for numerous future stars, giving early television exposure to artists like Shania Twain and Garth Brooks.
Throughout his prolific career, Hunter released numerous albums and achieved massive popularity. His contributions to the genre have earned him several prestigious accolades, including:
Membership in the Order of Canada (1984) and the Order of Ontario (2010).
Induction into the Canadian Country Music Association Hall of Fame (1984) and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville (2012).
Three Juno Awards for Best Country Male vocalist
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