'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head' singer BJ Thomas passes away
Grammy award-winning songwriter BJ Thomas has passed away on Saturday after suffering from complications of lung cancer
The 78-year-old songwriter passed away peacefully at his home in Arlington, Texas and the news about his death was confirmed on his official Facebook page, reports CNN.
The famous songwriter became popular with a cover of the Hank Williams standard "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," which spend 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.
Two years later, BJ Thomas got into the Top 5 of Billboard chart with "Hooked on a Feeling," a song written by his childhood friend, Mark James.
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The Grammy award-winning singer has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide, scored eight No. 1 hit, and had 26 Top 10 singles over his 50 years in the music business.
Thomas was also named one of Billboard's Top 50 Most-Played Artists Over The Past 50 Years. Other hits by the artist include "I Just Can't Help Believing," "Don't Worry Baby," "Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love," and "New Looks From An Old Lover."
BJ Thomas's interaction with songwriter-producer Burt Bacharach leads to the production of one of his famous soundtrack. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" earned the Oscar for Best Original Song. The song was also featured in popular films like Forrest Gump, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Clerks II, and Spider-Man 2, as well as multiple TV shows.
Despite continued chart success, Thomas fell into a spiral of substance abuse, which he ended after becoming a born-again Christian in 1976. He then moved towards gospel music, and he won a Dove Award for his album "Home Where I Belong." All five of his Grammy wins were for religious-themed songs.
Thomas had multiple hits on the country charts in the 1980s and is also remembered for singing the theme from the sitcom "Growing Pains" (with Jennifer Warnes), which debuted in 1985.
