• At the age of 85, Charlie Thomas passed away.
• He was battling with liver cancer.
• Rita Thomas, Charlie’s wife, is his only surviving family member.

The singer, who was best known for his work with the 1960s doo-wop group The Drifters, passed away on January 31 after a battle with liver cancer, according to his friend and fellow crooner Peter Lemongello Jr. (06.02.23).

He told The New York Times: “He was aging, but he was active almost every weekend. Unfortunately, he went from being active to being at home and he started going downhill.”

Rita Thomas, Charlie’s wife, is his only surviving family member. Charlie and the band were both inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Crystal Thomas Wilson and Victoria Green, his daughters; Charlie Jr., Michael Sidbury, and Brian Godfrey, his sons; and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The Drifters were founded in 1953, but Charlie would not join them until 1959, when he was performing with The Five Crowns in a Harlem theatre and shared the bill with the pop group.

The Drifters’ manager George Treadwell decided to fire the entire original lineup, which at the time included Clyde McPhatter, Gerhart Thrasher, Andrew Thrasher, Bill Pickney, and Jimmy Oliver, and replace them with the members of The Five Crowns, one of which featured ‘Stand By Me’ crooner Ben E. King, after one of the band members became intoxicated and yelled at him.

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