Born: 7 August 1942
Died: 29 May 2021 (aged 78)
Full name: Billy Joe Thomas
Thomas was born in the city of Hugo in Oklahoma which is in the south east corner of the state and about 210 kms north east of Dallas in Texas. He would grow up in Houston, Texas and would sing in his church choir as a kid. When he was older, he joined a band called the Triumphs and became friends with Roy Head of Roy Head & The Traits. In 1966 B.J. and the Triumphs released an album which included a cover of Hank Williams’ ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’ which went to 8 in the US. This was attributed to B.J. Thomas & The Triumphs. The next single, ‘Mama’, would go out just under Thomas’ name and would get to 22. Throughout the rest of the 60’s he saw a number of US hits, including ‘Hooked On A Feeling’ which got to number 5. He first hit the top spot with ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’ which was from the film ‘Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid’ and which was the first song to top the US charts in the 1970’s. He hit the top spot again in 1975 with ‘(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song’ which at the time had the record longest song title for a US number 1 hit. It was later beaten by ‘Stars On 45’ which, for copyright reasons, had to list all the song titles in the medley as part of its official title. In total he managed 26 US hits with the 2 number 1’s already mentioned being his only chart toppers. In 1976 he began recording some contemporary Christian music and became one of the biggest selling Christian Music artists of the time. He would die a few weeks after announcing that he had lung cancer.
| Date | Song | Peak (weeks at 1) | Weeks |
| 16-Jan-1970 | Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head | 1 (1) | 12 |
| Total hits | 1 | ||
| Total weeks | 12 |
| Biggest climber awards | 1 |
| Star rater climbs | 2 |
| Biggest fallers | 3 |
| Weeks with oldest in the charts | 0 |
| Longest run in the charts (weeks) | 12 |
| Weeks with more than 1 in the charts | 0 |
| Biggest gap between hits (weeks) | 0 |
| Top 30 points ranking | =598 |
| Top 20 points ranking | =528 |
| Top 30 points | 284 |
| Top 20 points | 164 |
SA Singles Charts 