

"I couldn't stand it anymore," Thomas recalled. In 1971, during a two-week engagement at the Copa in Las Vegas, he left the club during the second week and didn't come back. Thomas' drug use played havoc with his concert schedule. I just didn't think it would be possible."

There was actually one time I felt I would never be able to sing again until I took a handful of ups. I would buy 10,000 pills at one time so I could feel secure. Thomas: "Around 1969 and '70, drugs were fairly inexpensive. There had been times when I took sleeping pills on Monday and didn't wake up until Friday. Of course if you take 40 and you start coming down, then you've got to take 80 to get back up to where you were. I took the 40 until I got where I wanted to be. "I would wake up in the afternoon and lay about 40 out. I took them, but not really knowing what they were going to end up doing to me until really it was too late." So, I'd take one and it would make me feel great. "He said, 'Take one of these, it will make you feel great.' I'd be tired at the session. "When I first started singing at 15, I was signed to a local small-town producer," Thomas explained about his upbringing in Houston. It was right after I had 'Hooked on a Feeling.' In an interview with Geraldo Rivera in 1974 (see below), Thomas discussed his addiction to pharmaceutical drugs: "At that time in my career I had become so involved in the drug thing it seemed like it was really another person that was doing all this stuff. He immediately quit drugs and found an avenue for expressing his faith in gospel music." His wife Gloria became a born-again Christian and the turning point in Thomas’ life came when he became a believer in 1976. From 1977-1982, he won gospel Grammys five consecutive years.Īccording to his website: " Like many successful pop/rock artists, Thomas fell into drugs and battled substance abuse. 1, 1975).Īfter that triumphant run, Thomas crossed over into Christian music. 5, 1968) and "(Hey Won't you Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" (No. Thomas, who succumbed to lung cancer on May 27, was best known for his hit songs "Raindrop Keep Fallin' on My Head" (No. I figured out this isn’t working very well." (image via The Sun)
