R & B soul King and Drifter’s legend Charlie Thomas has died at the age of 85 from liver cancer.
The singer who was born in Virginia, US in 1937 has entertained the world with an illustrious career that has spanned over 60 years. He is most famous for singing with the renowned 1950’s group the Drifter’s. Charlie originally performed in the band The Five Crowns, although they received local success, Charlie’s big break came when his band was turned into The Drifters after the original lineup was sacked.
The Drifter’s were well known for such lyrical greats as ‘Sweets for my Sweet’ (1962) and Charlie featured in all their famous songs, hits as ‘The Boardwalk’, ‘Up on the Roof ‘and ‘Save the Last Dance ‘. The Drifters were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and Charlie performed with them for over 60 years.
The singer Peter Lemongello Jr., a close friend, said the cause was liver cancer.
charlie, a tenor, was a Drifter for more than 60 years, from the version of the group that had its first hits in the late 1950s to the version he led and toured with until the pandemic struck.
“He was aging, but he was active almost every weekend,” Mr. Lemongello, a former lead singer of the Crests, which performed on bills with Mr. Thomas, said in a phone interview. “Unfortunately, he went from being active to being at home and he started going downhill.”