Tommy Hunter Has Died

A country music legend who also made his mark on TV sadly passed on earlier in July.

Known as “Canada’s Country Gentleman,” Tommy Hunter brought the sounds of country music to audiences across North America for decades. As a performer and later a television host, Hunter introduced multiple generations of music fans to some of the greatest country acts of all time, including Garth Brooks and Shania Twain.

Sadly, Hunter passed away on July 2. CBC News reported that he died of natural causes at age 89. A public visitation followed on July 9, per CTV News.

“Canada’s Country Gentleman” Tommy Hunter, the celebrated musician whose professional career spanned from the 1950s into the early 2010s, has died.

Hunter was a singer and guitarist in his own right, releasing LP’s like 1968’s Travelling with Tommy Hunter and 1971’s Time Slips Away. But it was his work on The Tommy Hunter Show, a ’60s radio gem that transitioned to television and latest on CBC through 1992. It aired in the U.S. on TNN for many years during its run.

The Most-Watched Tommy Hunter Show Clips

The most-popular clip from The Tommy Hunter Show that we could find was of the iconic Loretta Lynn. Lynn, who herself passed away in 2022, appeared on the program back in 1990. In this resurfaced clip, Lynn is shown chatting it up with Hunter before going into a rendition of the iconic track “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”

Another highly re-watched clip from The Tommy Hunter Show was of The Seldom Scene, the underrated bluegrass act. Their rendition of “Wait a Minute” from one of their appearances of the program has been watched on YouTube more than 330,000 times.