Jon Mikl Thor

Jon Mikl Thor (born 1953), better known as simply Thor, is a Canadian bodybuilding champion, actor, songwriter, screenwriter, historian, vocalist and musician.

As a bodybuilder, he was the first Canadian to win both the Mr. Canada and Mr. USA titles.

During his bodybuilding career, he has achieved over 40 titles around the world.

As a musician, he is the front man for the heavy metal band Thor, billing himself as "The Legendary Rock Warrior".

Thor toured Canada and the US throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Thor started the concept Thor in 1973.

He combined strength feats, props, costumes and showmanship with music: his feats included bending solid steel bars in his teeth and having solid concrete blocks smashed off his chest with a sledgehammer.

Jon Thor created the "THOR T in Shield Logo" in 1973 which would become the copyright and trademark for the band.

In 1976, Thor performed on American national television with his appearance on The Merv Griffin Show.

Shortly after, Jon recorded the album Keep the Dogs Away in 1976–77 through his own company God Of Thunder Productions.

'Thor- a Rock Odyssey' featured Thor performing his 1977 Keep the Dogs Away album live in its entirety, followed by a 'Battle for New York' where Thor battles superhuman strongman 'Titano - The 8th Wonder of The World'.

The album was licensed to RCA and released in early 1978.

Jon appeared on the cover artwork as "Thor The Rock Warrior", holding back four dobermans.

In February 1984 Thor performed at the Marquee in London, England, to great reaction from the audience which included Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

The review in Kerrang magazine proclaimed "He Came, He Thor, He Conquered".

The reception of that show launched Thor's career to a new level.

He then licensed recordings to Albion Records.

Albion released songs such as "Thunder On the Tundra" and "Let the Blood Run Red" which went to number one on the UK Rock Chart.

He has also had a career in acting, appearing in such films as Recruits (1986), Zombie Nightmare (1987), Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (1987) and FUBAR (2002).

Thor toured throughout the UK performing at such concerts as the Great Yarmouth Festival and released albums such as Only the Strong (1986) and Recruits - Wild in the Streets (1986).

In 1987, Jon Thor retired from live performances and started to write and produce films as well as forming his own record label.

By 1997 he had returned to the recording studio and started to make live appearances with the release of Ride of the Chariots.

More albums followed from 1998 to 2009.

In 2004 Jon Thor was voted one of the top 100 greatest frontmen of all time in Classic Rock Magazine by an international panel of journalists as.

In 2005 Thor signed with Smog Veil Records and released Thor Against the World followed by Devastation of Musculation in 2006.

In 2009, Thor signed on to the label Vulcan Sky Records, and released the albums Steam Clock (2009) and Sign of the V and re-released the 1983 EP Unchained.

The same year he played with his former bandmates Steve Price, Mike Favata, and Ben Perman at the Sweden Rock Festival and Muskelrock Festival in Sweden and the Sauna Open Air Metal Festival in Tampere, Finland.

In 2011, Thor embarked on a tour of Scandinavia from May 31 to June 7, with Frank Soda on guitar, Savage Watts on drums and Killer Kilby on bass.

He played at DOM in Helsinki, Finland on June 1, performing his live rock opera and showcasing his latest film Thor - The Rock Opera; then, he revisited the Muskelrock Festival in Alvesta, Sweden from June 2 to June 4.

After months in the studio recording the 2012 album Thunderstryke for Rock Saviour Records in Germany, Thor returned to live performing by headlining the Armstrong Metal Fest 2012 at Hassen Arena.

Thunderstryke (2012) and Thunderstryke II (2013) were released to rave reviews and commercial success worldwide.

In 2013, Thor signed with Cleopatra Records in Los Angeles, California, and released a CD/DVD deluxe edition of his fifth album, Only the Strong (1985), in May 2014.

This package includes additional unreleased bonus tracks and lost live footage.

In 2014, Cleopatra Records re-released the 1983 EP Unchained which included the version of the 1982 EP Lightning Strikes Again.

In 2015, Thor released Metal Avenger through Cleopatra Records.

Thor toured major cities during November 2015 in United States to promote the album Metal Avenger and the documentary film I Am Thor.

A short North American tour followed in March, 2016 along with the Canadian release on Raven Banner.

The official reissue of Thor's 1977 Keep the Dogs Away album, will be released on May 13, 2016, as a Super Deluxe double CD + DVD set by Deadline Records.

This will coincide with a vinyl and digital launch of the recording.

On May 14, 2016, in New York City at the Highline Ballroom, Thor, produced by Fabio Productions, presented much like a Broadway show in three parts.