Since the mid-1960s, B.J. Thomas has left a major mark on popular music with 15 Top 40 pop hits, 10 Top 40 country hits, five Grammy Awards, and 15 Gold and Platinum records.

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Billy Joe Thomas was born in Hugo, Oklahoma. His family moved to Rosenberg, Texas, when he was 15, where he sang in his high school and church choirs. As a teenager, he joined a Houston-area rock band, the Triumphs. During his senior year, he became friends with Roy Head of Roy Head and the Traits. The Traits and the Triumphs held several “Battle of the Bands” events in the early 1960s. The Triumphs soon became one of the biggest acts in Texas, opening at the Houston Coliseum for Roy Orbison, the Dave Clark Five, and the Four Tops.

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In 1965, the band set out to record an album of vintage rock and roll. Needing one more song to complete the project, B.J. remembered his father telling him, “Don’t come back unless you record something country.” He recorded Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” which became his first hit. The album went on to sell more than a million copies.

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By 1968, B.J. Thomas had recorded four gold records: “The Eyes of a New York Woman,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” “It’s Only Love,” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” the latter featured in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Song. His recording of “I Just Can’t Help Believin’,” later covered by Elvis Presley, reached No. 9 in 1970.

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In 1976, B.J. released the first of several gospel albums, including Home Where I Belong, which became the first Christian album to be certified platinum, establishing him as the leading contemporary Christian artist of the era. His 1975 hit “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” won the Country Music Association’s Single of the Year. His success in country music also led to his becoming the 60th member of the Grand Ole Opry. In 1989, he recorded “As Long as We Got Each Other,” the theme song for the sitcom Growing Pains. He later wrote commercial jingles and produced acoustic versions of many of his well-known hits.