Country music star who wrote The Mississauga Song dies at 89

Before Tommy Hunter was honoured as “Canada’s Country Gentleman” and became one of the country’s most beloved television personalities, he was also a proud Mississauga resident who helped put the young city on the musical map.

Hunter, who entertained generations of Canadians as host of The Tommy Hunter Show, died of natural causes on Thursday (July 2) in his hometown of London, Ont. He was 89.

While Hunter’s legacy stretches across Canada through a television career that spanned more than three decades, he also left a lasting mark on Mississauga.

Living in the city’s Lorne Park neighbourhood in the early 1970s, Hunter was approached by Mississauga’s first mayor, Martin Dobkin, and members of the newly formed city council with an unusual request: write a song celebrating Canada’s newest city.

The result was The Mississauga Song, released in 1974, just months after Mississauga officially became a city.

Wanting to capture the spirit of the growing community, Hunter wrote an upbeat tune celebrating the city’s people, neighbourhoods and the Credit River while inviting listeners to “come on out to Mississauga.”

Tommy Hunter and friends recording The Mississauga Song.

The recording became a true community effort. Hunter organized dozens of residents, civic leaders, sports figures and radio personalities to join him in a Toronto recording studio to sing the chorus. Future longtime mayor Hazel McCallion was among those lending her voice to the project.

According to Heritage Mississauga, Hunter accepted no payment for writing or recording the song, saying he simply wanted to create “a simple, uplifting song that celebrated both the place and the people of Mississauga.”

Long before that local chapter of his life, Hunter had already become a familiar face to Canadians.

Born Thomas James Hunter in London on March 20, 1937, he joined CBC’s Country Hoedown in 1956 before launching The Tommy Hunter Show, which debuted on CBC television in 1965.

The weekly variety program ran for 27 years, becoming one of the longest-running country music television shows in North American history and introducing audiences to many of country music’s biggest stars.

Throughout its run, Hunter welcomed legendary performers such as Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, Kitty Wells, Roy Acuff, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Carroll Baker and Rita MacNeil, while also giving early national exposure to future superstars including Garth Brooks and Shania Twain.

Known for his trademark warmth and easygoing style, Hunter insisted country music deserved to be presented with dignity, avoiding the stereotypical barnyard sets that were common on television at the time. His polished approach helped bring the genre into the mainstream while making him a trusted presence in Canadian living rooms for nearly three decades.

Following the show’s cancellation in 1992, Hunter continued touring across Canada before retiring from the stage in 2012.

Over a career spanning more than five decades, he earned three Juno Awards and a Gemini Award, was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and the Mississauga Music Walk of Fame, and was appointed to both the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. Canada Post also honoured him with a commemorative stamp.

In a statement released by his family, longtime business manager Brian Edwards said Hunter “lived and worked with grace, humility, and deep respect for the audiences who welcomed him into their homes for thirty-six consecutive years.”

“He loved country music and all his loyal fans across Canada and the United States. He never once took for granted the generations of families who made him part of their lives.”

Hunter is survived by three children, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Funeral arrangements and details of a public memorial will be announced at a later date.

– with files from Declan Finucane