He was touring and recording constantly and taking dozens of pills a day. Thomas would later say the phenomenon of “Raindrops” exacerbated an addiction to pills and alcohol which dated back to his teens, when a record producer in Houston suggested he take amphetamines to keep his energy up. “At the time, it seemed like a dumb idea. “When the film was released, I was highly critical - how did the song fit with the film? There was no rain,” Redford told USA Today in 2019. Redford, meanwhile, doubted the song even belonged in “Butch Cassidy.” Thomas was recovering from laryngitis while recording the soundtrack version and his vocals are raspier than for the track released on its own. But, at first, not everyone was satisfied. “Raindrops” has since been heard everywhere from “The Simpsons” to “Forrest Gump” and was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013. But his warm, soulful tenor fit the song’s easygoing mood, immortalized on film during the scene when Butch (Paul Newman) shows off his new bicycle to Etta Place (Katharine Ross), the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford). 1 pop hit and an Oscar winner for best original song as part of the soundtrack to one of the biggest movies of 1969, the irreverent Western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Thomas wasn’t the first choice to perform the whimsical ballad composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David Ray Stevens turned the songwriters down. His signature recording was “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” a No. 1 with pop, adult contemporary and country listeners in 1976 with ″(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” The same year, his “Home Where I Belong” became one of the first gospel albums to be certified platinum for selling more than 1 million copies. Thomas, who announced in March that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, died from complications of the disease Saturday at his home in Arlington, Texas, his publicist Jeremy Westby said in a statement.Ī Hugo, Oklahoma-native who grew up in Houston, Billy Joe Thomas broke through in 1966 with a gospel-styled cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and went on to sell millions of records and have dozens of hits across genres. Thomas, the Grammy-winning singer who enjoyed success on the pop, country and gospel charts with such hits as “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” and “Hooked on a Feeling,” has died. He leaves behind Gloria, his wife of 53 years, three daughters and four grandchildren.B.J. “I’ve had a wonderful life, I’ve been a husband and a father who cherishes his children and now I’m a grandfather,” he continued, “and I’m motivated like all these teachers and preachers and mothers and fathers to help my kids grow up with character and self-respect.” Thomas was also known for the 1968 hit “Hooked on a Feeling.” Getty Images for SeriousFun Children's Network
I’ve been very lucky,” Thomas once reflected in a statement on his website. The five-time Grammy winner, a member of the Grand Ole Opry, also sang the theme song to the sitcom “Growing Pains,” and appeared in multiple television commercials and infomercials. Over the following decade, Thomas enjoyed a string of hits with tunes like “Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love,” “New Looks from an Old Lover Again,” appearing on the country charts. In 1976, he released “Home Where I Belong,” which became the first platinum album in the gospel genre. In the 1970s, Thomas switched labels several times, gave up alcohol and drugs and turned to gospel music as he became a born-again Christian. Thomas performs at the Sixties Spectacular in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 2014.
They introduced him to Burt Bacharach, who wrote the chart topper from the “ Butch Cassidy” film that was later used in movies like “Spider-Man 2” and “Forrest Gump.” B.J. Thomas released his first album for Scepter Records in 1966, and went on to become friendly with label mates Ronnie Milsap and Dionne Warwick. He was best known for hits like “Hooked on a Feeling,” his cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” which won the Academy Award for best original song in the 1969 Western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Thomas, who announced in March that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, died of the disease at his home in Arlington, Texas, according to a press release from his management company, 2911 Media.Ī Hugo, Oklahoma, native who grew up in Houston, Thomas broke into the music industry in the 1960s with a career that crossed over into multiple genres including country, pop, and gospel. 1 hits over his more than half-century-long career, died on Saturday. Thomas, the Grammy-winning singer who sold 70 million albums worldwide and charted eight No.
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