The singer died on May 29 at his home in Texas from lung cancer.

He is a legend of music from the 60s and 70s who is disappearing. BJ Thomas died at the age of 78 on May 29 at his home in Texas from lung cancer, reports The  New York Times .

BJ Thomas first became known in 1966 with the cover of  I’m so lonesome I could cry by country singer Hank Williams and two years later with Hooked we feel that some have been able to (re) discover in the film   Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy . But, it was really in 1969 that BJ Thomas hit hard with  Raindrops keep fallin ‘on my head, original music by  Butch Cassidy and the Kid directed by George Roy Hill. He thus won the Oscar for Best Original Song and entered the history of music.

From the 1970s, BJ Thomas fell into addiction to drugs and alcohol. Once “clean” in the mid-70s, he sings gospel and country and has several hits and is rewarded with 5 Grammy Awards . BJ Thomas turned to gospel after his conversion as an evangelical Christian . 

“Few artists have left a more memorable mark on the American musical landscape than BJ Thomas. With his silky and rich voice, and his unerring sense of song, Thomas’s vast career has embraced several styles, including country, pop, and gospel, ”said its people on  its official website.