Following a battle with stage-four lung cancer, B.J. Thomas, whose musical career endured for over 50 years, died May 29 at his home in Arlington, Texas. He was 78.
Thomas was a chart force beginning in the 1960s. He logged 26 hits, including two No. 1s among five top 10s, on the Billboard Hot 100 from 1966 through 1983 and achieved No. 1 singles across the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Adult Contemporary charts. His 1969 classic “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” became his first leader on any Billboard survey, spending four weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and seven frames atop Adult Contemporary.
Born in Hugo, Texas, and raised in Houston, Thomas also topped tallies with: “I Just Can’t Help Believing” (one week, Adult Contemporary, 1970); “Rock and Roll Lullaby” (one week, Adult Contemporary, 1972); “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” (one week each on the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Hot Country Songs, 1975); “Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love” (one week, Hot Country Songs, 1983) and “New Looks From an Old Lover” (one week, Hot Country Songs, 1983).
Thomas last sang a top 10 Billboard chart hit that was known to millions before it even became a single: “As Long as We Got Each Other,” credited to Steve Dorff & Friends, was sung by Thomas and fellow multi-decade pop star Dusty Springfield. Serving as the theme song to the hit ABC sitcom Growing Pains, it rose to No. 7 on Adult Contemporary in February 1989.
Thomas initially appeared on a Billboard chart when his version, with The Triumphs, of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” entered the Hot 100 dated Feb. 19, 1966. It reached No. 8 that April. He returned to the top 10 in January 1969 with the No. 5-peaking “Hooked on a Feeling,” later a No. 1 for Blue Swede in 1974. Thomas’ next top 10, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” became his first Hot 100 leader in January 1970.
B.J. Thomas’ Biggest Billboard Hits
Rank, Title, Artist, Hot 100 Peak Position, Year
1. “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” No. 1 (four weeks), 1970
2. (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” No. 1 (one week), 1975
3. “Hooked on a Feeling,” No. 5, 1969
4. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (with The Triumphs), No. 8, 1966
5. “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” No. 9, 1970
6. “Don’t Worry Baby,” No. 17, 1977
7. “Rock and Roll Lullaby,” No. 15, 1972
8. “No Love At All,” No. 16, 1971
9. “The Eyes of a New York Woman,” No. 28, 1968
10. “Everybody’s Out of Town,” No. 26, 1970
B.J. Thomas’ Biggest Billboard Hits recap is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.
Thomas scored his first success on Hot Country Songs in 1975 with his initial entry, “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” which led the list that May. In 1975-2000, he notched 16 Hot Country Songs appearances, including three No. 1s among five top 10s. Along with his additional No. 1s “Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love” and “New Looks From an Old Lover,” both in 1983, he reached the top 10 with “Two Car Garage” (No. 3) and “The Whole World’s in Love When You’re Lonely” (No. 10), both in 1984. He last visited the chart in 2000 with “You Call That a Mountain.”
Thomas also earned 10 entries on the Billboard 200 albums chart, led by the No. 12-peaking Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head in 1970.
Thomas posted his last Billboard chart appearance during his lifetime in 2013 when The Living Room Sessions hit No. 39 on Top Country Albums. The unplugged career retrospective includes collaborations with, among others, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Richard Marx and Keb’ Mo’.
