(Celebrity Access) — Celebrity Access has learned that Canadian music industry veteran and former president of the Country Music Association of Canada, Tom Tompkins, has passed away after a battle with cancer.
A Toronto native, Tompkins began his radio career at CKXL Radio in Calgary and later worked at stations including CJAX-FM (Edmonton), CFGM-AM (Toronto), CHAM-AM (Hamilton) and CJAY-FM in Calgary.
A longtime employee of Canadian radio, he was twice awarded Record magazine’s Country Program Director of the Year and was named Country Music Person of the Year by the Canadian Country Music Association in 1994, 1997 and 1998.
Tompkins also branched out into artist management, overseeing the careers of Canadian country stars such as Tracy Prescott and Lonesome Daddy.
Tompkins served on the CCMA board of directors for 15 years, serving as the organization’s president from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1994 to 2000, and was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
After leaving radio, Tompkins partnered with fellow former broadcaster Gene Daniel to organize concerts in British Columbia.
“Tom Tompkins was a founding father of Canadian country music,” says Celebrity Access senior writer Larry LeBlanc. “His passion and knowledge of music was unparalleled, and he had a spark of aggression and humour. For decades he held executive programming positions at multiple country radio stations in Canada and was president of the Canadian Country Music Association. I first met him in the early ’70s when he was a top rock DJ in Calgary, Alberta, before he became one of the most well-known and outspoken figures in Canadian country music. In his later years, he was also a renowned concert promoter in Western Canada.”
Information about survivors or a memorial service was not available at press time.
