BJ Thomas has stage 4 lung cancer, the Grammy-winning singer said today by his representatives. The man who topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Raindrops Keep Fallin ‘on My Head” by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and had four other top 10 singles who are receiving treatment at a Texas health care facility and is hoping for a full recovery.
Saying that he plans to continue to interact with colleagues and industry fans and remains optimistic about his willingness to make public appearances, Thomas released this statement through his publicists on 2911 Media:
“I just wanted to take this unique opportunity to share my gratitude to Gloria, my wonderful wife and my rock for more than 53 years, my family, friends and fans. I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to record and present beautiful songs in pop, country and gospel, and to share these wonderful songs and memories around the world with millions of you. I ask all of you for your prayers during this time and that my music can live with you. “
The Oklahoma native who grew up in Texas burst in 1966 with his version of the 1949 Hank Williams song “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”, which reached 8th place on the Billboard Hot 100. He scored a second national success with “Hooked on a Feeling” in late 1968 – a song that reached number one in its “Ooga-Chucka” version of Blue Swede six years later.
The following year, Thomas recorded “Raindrops Keep Fallin ‘on My Head”, which Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote for 20th Century Fox’s. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The film went on to be the highest grossing film of 1969 and won the Oscar for Best Song, while the single became Thomas’ first number one, spending four weeks at the top in the early 1970s.
The song also earned Thomas his first Grammy nomination; was introduced to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014; and is heard on subsequent films and TV shows, since Forrest Gump and Spider-Man 2 for Clerks II, Family Guy and “Mrs. America.”
Listening to classical music, it is easy to see what some of the singer’s struggles seem to be. In fact, Thomas was recovering from laryngitis when he recorded it, which gave “Raindrops” his unique vocal sound.
Thomas returned to the top 10 that year with “I Just Can’t Help Believing” before a streak of almost five years when only two of his singles – “No Love at All” and “Rock and Roll Lullaby”, with Duane Eddy in guitar – reached the national top 20.
He roared back into the pop spotlight in 1975 with “(Hey, you’re not going to play) Someone else’s song that did someone wrong”, which became his second No. 1 pop and won the Grammy for Best Country Song for his writers Chips Moman & Larry Butler. It is also the song with the longest title to reach the top of the Top 100 list.
Thomas has had an irregular pop career since then, but has continued to record inspirational and gospel music. He won Grammy awards every year from 1976-81 for his recordings of tracks like “The Lord’s Prayer” and “Amazing Grace” and the 1976 LP House where I belong.
He continued to record and perform.