Submitted by Lisa Hartt
“To be included in a group of people whose songs have been the soundtracks of lives here in Canada — that’s extraordinary.” Ian Thomas
For more than five decades, Ian Thomas has followed his instincts as a songwriter. His catalogue is filled with songs that are deeply personal yet widely relatable, from “Painted Ladies” to “Pilot” to “To Comfort You.” Whether writing about love, loss, or the end of the world set to a disco beat, his songs have carried listeners through their own journeys — something Thomas does not take lightly.
“When people say a song got them through a hard time, I’m thrilled,” he says. “I understand it, because I’ve had the same experience with songs that helped me grieve or find hope.”
Thomas’s career has been anything but one-dimensional. He began as a CBC producer, recording concerts by legends like Bill Withers and Gene Krupa, before striking out on his own. His albums have traversed genres with abandon, something he admits may have made him harder to market, but which kept him alive as a writer. “My albums were all over the place,” he says. “That’s probably been to my detriment as an artist, but to my creative health as a songwriter — and as a human being.”
His songs have also lived new lives in the hands of others. From Manfred Mann’s “Runner” to covers by Chicago and Anne Murray, Thomas has seen his music reinterpreted in ways that both surprised and moved him. Some choices frustrated him — a bridge removed here, a lyric softened there — but ultimately, he takes it as the highest compliment.
“They were investing themselves into my song as part of their career. That’s a huge gift.”
Beyond his own catalogue, Thomas has been a tireless advocate for Canadian songwriters. As president of the Songwriters Association of Canada in the 1980s, he lobbied for fair compensation, helping to change the outdated two-cent mechanical royalty that had been in place since 1920. He was also on the board when the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded, working alongside Frank Davies, whose vision made the institution possible.
Now, as he joins the very Hall he helped establish, Thomas reflects on what the honour represents. “To be included in a group of people whose songs have been the soundtracks of lives here in Canada — that’s extraordinary. There’s something very Canadian about this group this year, and I’m humbled to be part of it.”
For Thomas, the induction is not just about recognition, but about gratitude: for the freedom GRT Records once gave him to write what he wanted, for the fellow songwriters who shaped him, and for his wife Catherine, who insisted he keep a song he nearly threw away. “Nobody’s ever loved like you,” he says of her, a line that could double as a refrain for his career.
Ian Thomas enters the Hall of Fame not just as a hitmaker, but as a songwriter who trusted his heart, followed his curiosity, and, in doing so, gave Canadians songs that still hold them through the highs and lows of life.
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Legends Induction Series events, taking place October 17 at Toronto’s Meridian Arts Centre and November 17 at Montréal’s Espace St-Denis. Tickets for the induction event at Toronto’s Meridian Arts Centre on October 17 are on sale via Ticketmaster HERE. Tickets for the Montreal event on November 17 are available at Espace St-Denis HERE.