Career Born Billy Joe Thomas on Aug 7, 1942 in Hugo, Oklahoma and raised around Houston, Texas, and is an alumnus of Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg, Texas. Before his solo career, Thomas sang in the church choir as a teenager then joined the musical group The Triumphs. In 1966, B. J. Thomas and The Triumphs released the album, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Pacemaker Records). The album featured a hit cover of the Hank Williams song, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". In the same year, Thomas released a solo album of the same name (Scepter Records). Thomas achieved mainstream success again in 1968, with the single "Hooked on a Feeling", which featured the sound of an electric sitar. "Hooked on a Feeling", was first released on the album On My Way (Scepter Records). The 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, featured Thomas performing the (Burt Bacharach and Hal David) song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on M