The Drifters singer Charlie Thomas dies at 85

• The Drifters grieves the passing of one of its members.
• Singer Charlie Thomas dies at 85 of liver cancer.
• He is remembered for songs like Under the Boardwalk and There Goes My Baby.

Although he died on Tuesday, January 31, it was just a couple of days ago that the passing of singer Charlie Thomas, a member of The Drifters, was reported. Thomas died at 85 from liver cancer that he had been battling for years.. He is remembered for hits like Under the Boardwalk and There Goes my Baby.

According to the New York Post, this doo-wop idol was in the band for more than 60 years. His friend, fellow singer Peter Lemongello Jr, reported CT’s death: “He was getting old, but he was active almost every weekend. Unfortunately, he went from being active to being at home and it started to go downhill.”

Rest in peace, Charlie Thomas

Born April 7, 1937 in Lynchburg, Virginia, Charlie Thomas joined The Drifters ‘by chance’ in 1958 while performing with the R&B band Five Crowns at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The aspiring musician had caught the eye of George Treadwell, the manager of the original Drifters, who were also playing that night.

One of the members of The Drifters had supposedly gotten drunk and started cussing out the theater owner, prompting Treadwell to fire the entire lineup of the group. He then replaced them with members of The Crowns, including Thomas and Ben Nelson, later to be known as Ben E. King, and renamed them The Drifters.

The road to success for Charlie Thomas and The Drifters

Charlie Thomas was with The Drifters for 60 years performing hits like Up on the Roof, Under the Boardwalk and There Goes My Baby. Save the Last Dance For Me finally reached the top of the Billboard charts, becoming the band’s only song to achieve this distinction.

The artist was known for his tenor voice, singing Sweets For My Sweet, which reached number 16 on the Hot 100 in 1961. When My Little Girl is Smiling reached #28 a year later. In a documentary, he claimed a band didn’t exist without ‘harmony, harmony, harmony’.

Charlie Thomas was active until shortly before his death

Charlie Thomas’ career took an unexpected turn when, in the late 1960s, The Drifters broke up. Bill Pinkney, who was with the original band, created a new group called the Original Drifters, who were joined by Charlie. Shortly after, he formed his own group, with whom he toured until 2020, when the pandemic struck.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 along with his colleagues Ben E. King and Rudy Lewis. Original members Mr. Pinkney, Clyde McPhatter, Gerhart Thomas and Johnny Moore were also inducted at this ceremony.

Charlie Thomas’ family is devastated

According to the New York Post, Charlie Thomas is survived by his wife, Rita Thomas, and their children Crystal Thomas Wilson and Victoria Green, Charlie ‘Happy’ Thomas Jr., Michael Sidbury and Brian Godfrey. According to The New York Times, the singer died at his home in Bowie, Maryland on Tuesday, January 31.

As mentioned above, one of the most famous songs by The Drifters was Save the Last Dance For Me, which was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.