Editing B. J. Thomas (section)

== Personal life and death ==
Thomas married singer-songwriter Gloria Richardson in December 1968.<ref name="AllMusic Credits Gloria Thomas">{{Cite web |title=Gloria Thomas |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gloria-thomas-mn0001845714 |access-date=August 7, 2014 |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref><ref name="book">{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=B.J. Thomas as told to Jerry B. |title=Home where I belong |date=1982 |publisher=Word Books |isbn=0849929059 |edition=[Repr.] |location=Waco, Texas}}</ref> They had three daughters: Paige (born in 1970), Nora (adopted from [[North Korea]] in 1978), and Erin (born in 1979).<ref name="bio">{{Cite web |title=Billy Joe Thomas: From Then to Now |url=http://bjthomas.net/Biography.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020033235/http://bjthomas.net/Biography.html |archive-date=October 20, 2013 |access-date=June 10, 2014}}</ref> 

Shortly after his career began, Thomas became dependent on drugs and alcohol, which led to his marriage nearly ending. On January 28, 1976, he became a [[Christian]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cusic |first=Don |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3jqjSKHKcwC&dq=%22bj+thomas%22+%22christian%22+%221976%22+january+28&pg=PA439 |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music: Pop, Rock, and Worship |date=2009 |publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC |isbn=978-0313344251 |location=Santa Barbara, California |page=439 |access-date=March 27, 2021}}</ref> less than a month after Gloria did. Most press sources indicated that Thomas had been sober since he and Gloria reconciled in 1976.<ref name=book/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=John W. |title=Conversation: B.J. Thomas |url=http://www.ag.org/pentecostal-evangel/conversations2006/4820_Thomas.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313164219/http://www.ag.org/pentecostal-evangel/conversations2006/4820_Thomas.cfm |archive-date=March 13, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Sober Northern Express">{{Cite web |last=Rick |first=Coates |date=August 22, 2011 |title=BJ Thomas |url=http://www.northernexpress.com/michigan/article-974-bj-thomas.html |access-date=August 7, 2014 |publisher=Northern Express |quote=Recommitting himself to his religious upbringing in 1976, Thomas pursued Christian music, finding success on the charts, but challenges on the road. Often blending his concerts with his Christian and pop songs, his Christian music didn't sit well with some in the audience.}}</ref><ref name="HuffPo Aug 2014">{{Cite news |last=Howard |first=Kerbel |date=August 6, 2014 |title=A Conversation With BJ Thomas: Love, Near Tragedy And A Song That Saved |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/howard-kerbel/bj-thomas_b_5653938.html |access-date=August 7, 2014}}</ref>

On March 23, 2021, Thomas announced on his official [[Facebook]] page that he had stage IV [[lung cancer]] and was being treated in Texas.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Statement from The BJ Thomas |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=295220675297830 |access-date=March 24, 2021 |via=Facebook}}</ref> He died on May 29 at his home in [[Arlington, Texas]], at the age of 78.<ref name="WP obit"/><ref>{{Cite web| title='Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head' singer B.J. Thomas dies at 78| via=CBC| agency=Associated Press| date=May 29, 2021| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/bj-thomas-obit-1.6045925 }}</ref>