Billy Joe Thomas was born August 7th, 1942 at his Grandmother's home in Hugo, Oklahoma. His parents, Vernon and Geneva Thomas, had three children, Jerry, Billy Joe and Judy. The family moved around often, but stayed in close proximity during most of the children's growing years to Houston, Texas. The two Thomas boys both loved playing baseball and singing in their church choir. Young Billy Joe adopted the nickname, B.J., when there were too many young men with the name of Billy Joe on his Little League Baseball team. The name followed him through life since that time. B.J. Thomas & The Triumphs Left to right: Fred Carney, Donald Drachenberg, Gary Koepen, Denver Zatyka, Teddy Mensik, B.J. Thomas, Tom Griffith and Tim Griffith. After being convinced by his older brother Jerry to audition for a local band, "The Triumphs", Lamar Consolidated High School junior B.J. Thomas became the groups' lead singer. The band was a local success with songs such as "The Lazy Man" and "I Got A Feeling". Then their version of the Hank Williams tune, "I'm So Lonesome, I Could Cry", caught the ear of young promoter Steve Tyrell, who talked Scepter Records into releasing the song nationally. Young Billy Joe Thomas became one of Scepter Records most successful solo artists. Soon after becoming a solo artist, B.J. met his wife Gloria at Van's Ballroom in Houston. She caught his eye because he had at first thought she was his sister, Judy. After seeing each other for some months, they became engaged and were married on December 9th, 1968 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their first child, Paige was born early in 1970. Just after traveling with a Christian crusade of singers, ministers and counselors in Taiwan, B.J. and Gloria adopted their second daughter, Nora from a Korean orphanage in 1978. Soon after returning from Korea with Paige and Nora, Gloria discovered they were again to be blessed with another child, their third daughter, Erin born in 1979. B.J. and Gloria became grandparents for the first time in November, 2003, when Nora and her husband Mark gave birth to a daughter, Nadia Soo Mee Cloud. The Thomas Family in 1983 From top, L to R: Erin, B.J. Nora, Paige and Gloria After overcoming an admitted long struggle with drug and alcohol dependence, B.J. has with love, prayer and support from his family and friends, found a more spiritual base in his life. The Thomas family still reside in their beloved state of Texas. B.J. and Gloria, whom he affectionately calls "the redhead", celebrated 37 years of marriage this past December. Their beautiful daughter Paige can be seen in B.J.'s video done for his 1993 song "A Southern Girl On A Summer Night". The entire Thomas family can be seen in the Christmas video for B.J.'s version of "The Christmas Song" shown on G A C during the holidays. These great pictures were taken sometime during the mid 1980's at an outdoor show in Washington State by a B. J. Thomas fan. During the 4 decades B.J. has performed, he has: * Sold more than 70 million records * Earned 2 Platinum records * Had 11 Gold records * Won 5 Grammy Awards * Won 2 Dove Awards for Gospel Recordings which include "Home Where I Belong". * Had 15 Top 40 Pop/Rock Hits which include "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head", "Eyes Of A New York Woman", "Hooked On A Feeling", "Rock and Roll Lullaby", and "I Just Can't Help Believing" * Had 10 Top 40 Country Chart Hits which include "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song", "Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love" and "Two Car Garage" * Become the 60th Member of The Grand Ole Opry in 1981. Though no longer an active member of the Opry, B.J. still performs there as often as his schedule permits. * Been the only artist ever to have the "Song Of The Year" on the Pop, Country and Gospel charts. Both of these pictures were taken by a fan during a show in Huntsville, AL. If you have a pic you would like to share, email us ! [IMAGE] [IMAGE] B.J. still maintains a busy touring and appearance schedule during each year. He travels across the United States, as well as internationally to countries such as Canada, Brazil, Australia and more. In his off time, one of B.J.'s favorite past times is playing golf. Here he is in a relaxed moment on the golf course. [IMAGE] B.J. with the Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield taken in the 70's. "Jory" In 1972, B.J. co-starred with a young Robby Benson in the western movie, "Jory". This was Robby Benson's first film. The movie also starred veteran actor John Marley & a young Linda Purl. The description of the movie says: "The wild west seemed like a pretty nice place .... until they killed his father. Now Jory must live alone among ruthless outlaws, gunslingers and people just looking for trouble. It's a showdown, and the stakes are high. Jory must grow up fast or die." The blue sleeve shown is the original U.S. packaging of the movie, the yellow copy is a re-released U.S. version, the third box is the sleeve from a Canadian release of the video, the fourth is a 1994 release and the final box shown is from the year 2000 re-release of the video from Dreamline Entertainment. Jory in VHS format can be found at this time at Movies Unlimited. Click here to listen to the original audio introduction for this movie from 1972 ! Click here to download and listen to the entire theme from the soundtrack of "Jory" ! Below is a still photo of B.J. Thomas with young actor Robbie Benson from the set of the movie. Jory Movie Credits John Marley .... Roy B.J. Thomas .... Jocko Robby Benson .... Jory Brad Dexter .... Jack Claudio Brook .... Ethan Patricia Aspllaga .... Carmelita Todd Martin .... Barron Ben Baker .... Mr. Jordan Carols Cortes .... Logan Linda Purl .... Amy Betty Sheridan .... Mrs. Jordan Ted Markland .... Evans Quintn Bulnes .... Walker John Kelly .... Thatcher Eduardo Rojas .... Cookie Click on the thumbnail below to view more full sized scene cuts from the movie. From the producer of "Love Story" ... for those who love adventure. "JORY" Starring: B.J. Thomas John Marley Robby Benson Linda Purl
