Tommy Hunter, the host of the long-running “The Tommy Hunter Show” on CBC for nearly 30 years, has passed away at the age of 89.
Hunter, known as “Canada’s Country Gentleman,” passed away Thursday of natural causes.
Born in London, ON, he got his start in country music television in 1956 when he became a cast member of CBC’s “Country Hoedown.” The Tommy Hunter Show began airing as a CBC Radio program in 1960, before Hunter was given his own television show in 1965, which replaced Country Hoedown and went on to air for the next 27 years.
Prior to its cancellation by CBC in 1992, the show was also broadcast on The Nashville Network (TNN) in the U.S., reaching as many as 75 million homes.
“Tommy was always proud of the fact that the television show which bore his name featured quality wholesome family entertainment,” Hunter’s business manager Brian Edwards wrote in a post on TommyHunter.com. “He was also one of the first entertainers to work at bringing country music into the mainstream.”
“Tommy insisted his set would contain no barns, no hay bales and no corn stalks,” Edwards continued. “He believed that Country Music deserved better. The guests on Tommy’s show represented the full range of country music featuring traditional artists like Hank Snow, Roy Acuff, Kitty Wells and Johnny Cash on the same stage as Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Carroll Baker and Reba McEntire while giving a platform to upcoming stars like Rita MacNeil, Michelle Wright and Shania Twain.”
Following the conclusion of The Tommy Hunter Show, Hunter went on to tour with his band, The Travelling Men. He hung up his guitar on his 75th birthday in 2012.
The recipient of three JUNO Awards and one Gemini, Hunter was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984 and given a star on the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Walkway of Stars in Nashville in 1990. He was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1986 and the Order of Ontario in 1996.
Hunter was recognized by the Gospel Music Association of Canada in 2005 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp honouring Hunter in 2014.
