LIVELY LEGACY

Country Music Star B.J. Thomas Dies at 78

The singer had been battling lung cancer and died on Saturday from issues caused by the disease, according to his reps.

B.J. Thomas, the famed country music star who sang “I Just Can’t Help Believing” and “Hooked on a Feeling,” has died at 78. The singer, formally known as Billy Joe Thomas, had been battling lung cancer and died on Saturday from issues caused by the disease, a statement from his representatives said. Throughout his long and successful career, Thomas had earned multiple Grammy awards and the 1969 Oscar for Best Original Song f0r his hit “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” featured in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Some of the awards came after the singer had become a born-again Christian following his battle with a drug addiction. He gave himself the nickname B.J. as a kid because several of his baseball teammates had the name “Billy Joe,” the network says.