Posted on 03/24/2021 8:52:39 PM PDT by nickcarraway
B.J. Thomas, the acclaimed singer best known for hits like "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "Hooked on a Feeling" and "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," announced his diagnosis of stage four lung cancer.
“I just wanted to take this unique opportunity to share my gratitude to Gloria, my wonderful wife and my rock for over 53 years, my family, friends and fans,” he said in a statement released on his social media.
Thomas also said he's currently receiving treatment in Texas.
“I’m so blessed to have had the opportunity to record and perform beautiful songs in pop, country and gospel music, and to share those wonderful songs and memories around the world with millions of you," he wrote. "I ask all of you for your prayers during this time and that my music can live on with you.”
Thomas' chart-topping career launched in 1966 when his cover of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" sold more than a million copies. In 1968, "Hooked on a Feeling" sold another million copies, reaching No. 5 on the Hot 100 chart.
Just a year later, it was Dionne Warwick who convinced songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who were working on music for the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, to consider having Thomas sing the main theme, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head." Bacharach had already asked Bob Dylan and Ray Stevens and been turned down by both, so he offered it to Thomas, who stepped in and made the song an enormous hit. It shot to No. 1 and earned Thomas a Grammy in 1970 for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He gathered another four performance Grammys in the span of three years between 1977-80 and a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2014.
Through the next several decades, he released multiple country and gospel albums. His most recent LP, The Living Room Sessions, an unplugged, acoustic record arrived in 2013 and reached No. 39 on the Top Country Albums chart. Thomas has continued to perform regular shows in recent years, noting that he's not quite ready for retirement.
"If I reach a point where I don’t feel like I’m performing as well, I guess that could happen," he told the Arizona Republic in 2019. "I am getting older; it's inevitable my throat is aging as well. Maybe there will come a time at some point, but, you know, as long as I'm really having fun and I still do have a major motivation to do it, I just want to do it."
What a darn shame, that a man who brought such pleasure to the world (I love all three of those songs—they show TALENT, not dirt to make them popular) should be stricken with such a dread disease, one which takes away his very breath to sing. I hope the doctors can do him some real good, and that his family gives him peace.
Like both B.J and Blue Swedes versions, but the cheesiest is David Hasselhoff’s video. Drugs of some sort had to be involved
Prayers for Mr. Thomas’s health and healing.
Jane McLelland had stage four lung cancer too.
Went to his concert, was far away, so watched with binoculars. This was outdoors at a county fair. Anyway, while he was performing, he placed his hands on his eyes, like he was looking through binoculars. I was thrilled, he acknowledged me and it added to my crush on him.
Many of the talentless ones today will die in other ignominious ways.
BJ had a wonderful voice. He would never get on American Idol...would already be being paid to sing...
Very sad to hear this.
Met him once, and chatted for a few minutes, after one of his shows many years ago. Very personable, friendly, and down to earth.
The article never mentioned how old he is. Looked it up. He’s 78.
And to those who are posting ‘RIP”....he ain’t dead yet.
The ooga Chaka’s make that song great.
With the then obligatory Sitar backing. It feels dated but not in a bad way.
Much as many of our parents thought the world was going to Hell in a hand-basket - what wouldn’t we give to have that same level of public tolerance that is no more?
Yep, me too. I guess if you make it to 85 and happy & healthy you hit the lottery as a male.
God bless him, I had no idea he was still around.
I still remember when he sang the Star Spangled Banner during the Stars 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Wish I had a DVD recording or something of it. His voice, well, he still had ‘it’.
He lives in my hometown and he and his wife used to frequent my business. Very nice and talented guy. Prayers up.
I agree
Somehow they got that Song put in the Movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Amazing...
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